A tragedy that occurred in Bermuda Dunes, California, continues to raise many questions… On May 15, Karen Whitaker, 79, and her husband Donald Whitaker, 80, were found dead in their home in what authorities considered a “murder-suicide”. A few days after the events, the circumstances which preceded this tragedy began to become clearer.
Indeed, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, Karen Whitaker was the victim of “financial abuse of an elderly person” avant son décès. The investigators, however, wanted to specify that“There is no evidence to establish that the unknown suspect(s) involved in this financial fraud are directly linked to the death of the couple“.
Tom Selleck, the star actor of Magnum, has nothing to do with this scam that started on Facebook
According to the confidences of Joy Miedecke, a long-time friend of the Whitakers as reported by our colleagues atENewsthe septuagenarian would have been manipulated for almost a year by an individual posing as actor Tom Selleck. Over the months, she allegedly sent him at least $30,000. The American star, known in particular for his role in the series Magnumis not accused of any wrongdoing and has no connection with this affair. The scam allegedly started on Facebook and fake Tom Selleck approached Karen Whitaker claiming they shared a mutual friend who recently died.
Once contact was established, the exchanges would then have intensified… The scammer would have asked her in particular to buy an 80 dollar ticket for a supposed event organized near her home. “Of course, we immediately told him, ‘No, it’s not Tom Selleck. It’s a scam.'”a raconté Joy Miedecke à NBC News during an interview given on May 22 before regretting that“she didn’t want to believe anyone”. Financial requests quickly multiplied and Joy Miedecke detailed the scammer’s modus operandi: “He explained to her how to send the money, and she did so immediately. He continued to write to her, gain her trust and become her friend.”
Shortly after, the imposter allegedly extracted an additional $800 from him by offering to buy an entire table for his loved ones. “That was the beginning. Then he needed money for this, for that, and the requests kept increasing,” added Karen Whitaker’s friend. Faced with the magnitude of the situation, Karen’s loved ones tried to intervene, in vain. Still according to Joy Miedecke, some friends even alerted the police as well as the protection services for vulnerable adults. Donald Whitaker would then have discovered the extent of the scam and despite the measures taken by the family to limit Karen’s access to his finances, she would have continued to maintain contact with the scammer…
An ever bigger scam…
“She started hiding everything but she was sending messages all day and all night. It was incessant,” said the couple’s friend. The situation would have reached a point of no return the day before the tragedy when Karen Whitaker would have solicited money from her friends, claiming that the wife of Tom Selleck’s manager had just died and that financial help was necessary. For Donald Whitaker, this new request would have been particularly difficult to accept…
“That was the final straw for Donald. He was so ashamed. He couldn’t believe she was asking her friends to participate in this scam“a confié Joy Miedecke au magazine People in an interview published on May 22. Even today, the investigation continues in order to precisely determine the circumstances of the couple’s death. “When someone steals all your savings when you no longer have the possibility of earning money during your life, look at the consequences this can have“, concluded Joy Miedecke. Prevention is better than cure…
