Lawyer targeted in claimed murder plot says her husband saved her life by taking her car
Following news that authorities have recaptured a mother and son accused of participating in a bizarre murder plot against an Indiana divorce lawyer, the attorney herself is speaking out.
Rebecca Eimerman says she is still fearful for her family’s safety and credits her husband’s decision to drive her SUV for saving her life, reports WXIN. When he got into the vehicle on May 22, he noticed a pair of shoes in the back, he told the station, then realized there were feet in the socks extending from them.
He held Renee Perillo, 51, and Richard Perillo, 21, until law enforcement arrived. However, the two suspects initially were charged with lesser offenses, bonded out and went on the lam. Richie Perillo was arrested in California and his mom was taken into custody in Montana earlier this month. Both are expected to be extradited to Indiana to face conspiracy to commit murder charges. The WXIN article doesn’t name Eimerman or her spouse but she was identified in earlier news coverage about a murder-conspiracy case involving the same facts and suspects.
Eimerman said she didn’t realize until hours after Renee Perillo was arrested that Perillo had been dating a doctor on the other side of a settlement-collection case Eimerman had been pursuing for years on behalf of a female client. A syringe containing a drug that causes paralysis and is used for surgery was found in the vehicle, according to earlier news reports.
“I know that the only reason I’m here today is because my husband got in that car and not me,” Eimerman told the station. She is urging fellow attorneys, especially matrimonial practitioners, to be careful.
“I think it’s important that as lawyers, we make sure we’re taking care of ourselves, that we’re alert, that we acknowledge that there is some risk,” she said.
Previous Associated Press and Indianapolis Star articles provide more details about how the suspects were recaptured.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Mom and son accused of plotting to kill divorce attorney are on the lam”
