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From here on we are going to follow the transaction that would create the Beaver Brook development through Probate Court and Land Court records. (In order to access and read the documents cited, click on the italicized phrase.)

Fred Whitburn's will was drafted by Northampton lawyer Melnik on March 21, l997, making the home health aide, Richard LaRose, Fred's executor. Melnik's wife, Alice, and two other women witnessed the will. Fred signed it with a ragged "X." The will awarded Richard LaRose all the cash Fred had in the house. It also stated that "any previous cash or currency given by me to Richard LaRose was given freely and is his absolutely." The will left the Catholic Society for the Propagation of the Faith in Springfield $100,000, and the remainder of the estate was split three ways. One-third went to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, one third went to St. Catherine's parish, and the final third went to Father O'Connor, for his personal use.

Two issues hit me, when I looked at the will. The cash for the home health aide, first of all. How much cash? Are we talking $5, are we talking $5,000. Then there is all the money to Father O'Connor for his personal use.

One day, Richard LaRose, feeling badly that he had got into this fiduciary role without getting agency permission, went in to talk to his supervisor at VNA/Hospice. Home Health agencies have strict rules about what their employees can not cannot do when it comes to their client' s finances. LaRose's supervisor, shocked by this relationship, gave LaRose a choice of losing his job or resigning his role as executor. LaRose elected to remain as executor, but his sudden firing set up a lot of turbulence inside the VNA/Hospice. I worked there at that time, and Dick was highly thought of by everyone. One day he was there and one day he was gone. What would happen down the road underscored the wisdom of prohibiting home health aides from becoming involved with their client's wills. You're there as a caregiver, not a manager.

Bob Dostal, Fred's brother in law, was in Florida when the will went down. When he returned home he received a certified letter from Pat Melnik. He called Melnik, who told him that Fred wanted Dostal to turn in his power of attorney. Dostal was out, and the lawyer and Dick LaRose were handling Fred's care. Fred had lost his old support network, which consisted on the Dostals and two professional organizations (VNA/Hospice) and Highland Valley Elder Services.

At one point Whitburn had gone into the Linda Manor nursing home, just across Route 9, and then he wanted out. Dick LaRose hired a woman to look after Fred, but Dostal and a neighbor said there was trouble. Arguments, accusations, gun waving. The last aide left him. The next morning he was found on the floor, and he ended up back in the nursing home, where he suffered a fatal heart attack on March 28, 1998, a year after the will was executed.

Death Certificate. Three days after Whitburn's death Richard LaRose filed with the Probate Court to be the executor. On April 14 he returned notice of service to the probate court. Signing for him that ads were run in the Gazette appears to be Patrick Melnik. Notice of Service. This is an indication that on that date Melnik was acting as LaRose's attorney, since personnel at the court tell me that only executors and their attorneys can sign this form.

On July 13, LaRose filed an inventory of the estate. On that same day, the Beaver Brook Nominee Trust was formed. Declaration of Trust. Alice Melnik and her brother John Hanley signed for the trust and Patrick Melnik witnessed the declaration of trust. John Hanley, 59, is chairman emeritus of Scientific American, Inc., parent company of the magazine Scientific American. He was born and brought up in Northampton and educated at Annapolis and Temple University. His office address is on Madison Avenue; his home is at West 56th St. in New York City.

In August, LaRose billed the estate for clearing out the Whitburn house. The house and tract of land were valued by Charles Dole, an appraiser, at $315,000, and there were three bank accounts totaling $170,000. On Sept. 25, l998, Richard LaRose deeded the 37-acre tract of land and the Whitburn house to the Beaver Brook Nominee Trust for $315,000, the exact amount at which it had been appraised. Five months later, Richard LaRose died of congestive heart failure. Deed.

To sum this up, the old man's home health aide, acting for the estate, sold this valuable piece of property to a trust whose visible membership are principals of Patrick Melnik's extended family. Who are the actual beneficiaries of the trust? We contacted Cheryl Hunter, field investigator for the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers, and she told us the propriety of this transaction for her rested with the identity of the beneficiaries. If they are family members, yes there is something wrong; if they aren't, it's okay. The trustees wield decision-making power, but they do not necessarily benefit directly if the properties are sold.

Who are the actual beneficiaries of the trust? No way of knowing unless Hanley or one of the Melniks tell us, because the beneficiary page was not filed in the Registry of Deeds, nor is it required. I talked to John Hanley once about this question, and he told me that the legal papers for the trust were at home. Since then, I have talked to his secretary a couple of times but he has not returned our calls.

When I had gathered the basic documents in this case from Probate Court records and the Registry of Deeds, I did a two-page summary of the legal traffic on the case and went down to see Melnik on a Friday. His offices are in a three decker converted to offices on King Street, two doors down from the old O'Connell Funeral Home. His secretary said he would see me on Monday, but on Monday morning when I showed up his secretary said he was tied up with other business and handed me this brief letter:

February 20, 2001

Mr. Michael Kirby: I have a fiduciary and confidential relationship with my clients that prevents me from speaking to you about any of their affairs and, therefore, I will not be able to see you.

From the tenor of the list that you delivered to me, I doubt very much that you are truly interested in the facts, and are only intent on disparaging reputations.

Richard LaRose was one the kindest, gentlest and caring human beings I have ever met. Your attempt to discredit him with false representations is despicable. I can only surmise who put you up to this and hope to learn someday who fed you this false information.

Mr. LaRose is deceased and cannot defend himself. I, on the other hand, will not stand idly by if you publish false statements impairing my reputation. I am sure you are aware that I did not represent Mr. LaRose or the estate of Mr. Whitburn, or the purchaser of Mr. Whitburn's real estate when it was sold, and any omission of this from your list, implying otherwise, would be a deliberate falsehood. Mr. LaRose and the Whitburn Estate were represented in this sale by another attorney, who Mr. LaRose knew and who had no connection to me or my family.

Sincerely,

Patrick J. Melnik Esq.

I talked to the lawyer, Roger Walaszek, who I assumed Melnik was referring to, and whose notary stamp was on the deed. His offices on Gothic Street are about a block away from Melnik's. When I showed him the deed, he shook his head and said he had never had Mr. LaRose for a client, and that he has just witnessed his signature on the deed. He pointed at the letterhead on the document.

"Look whose name is on it, " he said. "That's not my letterhead."

But then he sat down and thought about it. The wheels were turning.

"Whose land is this we're talking about?" he asked. "Oh," he said, "Well, I remember now. Patrick had a conflict and couldn't represent this man. I covered for him in the transaction. We cover for each other when there's a possibility of conflict."

"Well, "I said, "you must have a client file."

But he wasn't sure about that. That was an old case, he told me.

Patrick Melnik, the main lawyer in this business, has worn a lot of hats. He drafted the will and was attorney for the decedent (1998), attorney for Richard LaRose, was administrator of the Whitburn estate after LaRose died, notarized the paperwork for the Beaver Brook Nominee Trust and prepared the deed transferring the Whitburn property to the trust (1999), and represented John Hanley and the trust in acquisition and development questions both last year and this year. All the lines seem to radiate from his offices at 110 King St. His former legal partner, Roger Lynch, sometimes represented John Hanley. Melnik's partner in a Chesterfield real estate development, Karl Davies, did the logging of the site that was the opening salvo in the Beaver Brook development effort. The Beaver Brook Nominee Trust is located physically, not in New York City, but at 110 King St.. Real estate bills on the property are sent to 110 King St. It appears to be Melnik's signature on the check to the city for the preliminary subdivision filing fee. Check and comparison document.

There is no evidence that Dick LaRose applied for a license to sell the property, which would have been a good safeguard guaranteeing court involvement and oversight, but it is not required. As my mother's guardian, I had to apply for a license to sell her house when she went into a nursing home. Melnik handled preparation of the trust document, which had his family members as trustees. The deed is on Melnik's stationery, which would normally indicate that on July 13, l998, Melnik was representing the seller, Richard LaRose.

The price John Hanley and the other trustees and beneficiaries may have paid for the Whitburn property might have been a fair one, but the best and ultimate test of value is not what an appraiser says. There are a lot of appraisers around who will give you the figure you are looking for. It's the market that gives you the real figure, and the market for land in Northampton in l998 was red hot. If the executor had given the contract on the land to a real estate agency and it was listed on the Multiple Listing Service, and the sale had been a normal "arms-length transaction" there wouldn't be the questions there are today. If you hold the property off the market, you'll never know whether you got the best price for the beneficiaries of Fred Whitburn's will.

Northampton is a very desirable place to live and there has been little new construction approved over the last five years. Today, 49 units have been approved for an expanded Beaver Brook Estates development, which consists of the original 37 acre Whitburn property, plus another 12.8 acres of land belonging to the John F. Skibiski Partnership which was purchased for $162,500, and a small 3.9 acre scrap of land purchased from the FDIC for $3,136.

In the early fall of 1998, neighbors noticed surveyors' markers going up, orange day-glo pieces of plastic knotted on trees and bushes. The land had become, over the years, an "unofficial park" for the people in the neighborhood, and there was fear that the land would be developed.

On Oct. 21, 1998 John Hanley of New York City filed with the Northampton Conservation Commission to delineate where the wetlands were, the customary first step for people who are considering developing their land.

Finally, on June 2, l999 Hanley made his formal debut as a Northampton developer in a page one article in the Daily Hampshire Gazette. "Hanley returning to roots, Scientific American CEO trying new career as developer" is the headline. read more>>>