Ex-Lowell Building Inspector Guilty Of Swindling 86-Year-Old Woman

WOBURN, MA – Former Lowell Building Inspector was sentenced to two years probation in Middlesex Superior Court on Thursday after a jury convicted him of taking advantage of his gravely-ill, 86-year-old neighbor by getting her to sign over her Lowell home to him just before she died.

A jury on May 22 convicted David St. Hilaire, 69, of Lowell, of larceny over $250 from a person over the age of 60 by stealing the late Erika Magill's home. Middlesex Superior Court Judge Bruce Henry sentenced St. Hilaire to two years probation, a 2,500 fine, vacate the 205 Billerica St. property and make restitution of the property to the Estate of Erika Magill, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's Office.

“As a public official and a neighbor to the victim, David St. Hilaire betrayed the trust of the community when he took advantage of an 86-year-old woman when she was at her most vulnerable,'' Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement.

"The defendant, standing to make a significant financial gain, deliberately targeted this victim to gain possession of her waterfront property, which was located next to the defendant’s property, even after the victim had clearly expressed that she did not want Mr. St. Hilaire to have her home for fear that he would sell it for the purpose of developing condominiums. Today’s sentencing is a testament to the strength of the Commonwealth’s evidence that the defendant acted purposely to defraud the victim of her home,” Ryan said.

Prosecutors argued that Magill and St. Hilaire were neighbors. On prior occasions, the defendant had made efforts to purchase the victim’s home, but Magill had rebuffed him, telling a friend she disliked St. Hilaire.

Magill, an elderly widow with no children, wrote a will intending to leave her inheritance to a friend who had taken care of her for many years. Following the friend’s death, the victim signed another will leaving her home and other property to her friend’s daughter, who had taken over her mother’s role of caring for the victim.

In July of 2010, the victim entered a nursing home for rehabilitation following surgery to treat a broken hip. St. Hilaire, who worked as the Senior Building Inspector for the City of Lowell, visited the victim in the nursing home several times.

On July 26, 2010 the defendant arrived at the nursing home with one of his co-workers -- his girlfriend-- as a witness, as well as a notary public. St. Hilaire approached the victim, who had been asleep and medicated with narcotic painkillers.

When she opened her eyes, he handed her a paper and pen and pointed to an area for her to sign. After she signed, St. Hilaire had the signature notarized immediately in the hallway of the nursing home. It subsequently came to the attention of her medical proxy that the victim had signed a “Quitclaim Deed” for her home.

The terms of that deed granted her home to the defendant in exchange for a mortgage agreement of approximately $92,000 to be paid over 15 years. However, the mortgage agreement, which was drafted by St. Hilaire, stated that the agreement would be discharged either upon final payment or upon the death of the mortgagee, Magill.

The day after the agreement was signed, the defendant mailed the victim two checks for approximately $775 to the victim’s home address, though the victim was still being treated at the nursing home. The checks were never deposited.

On July 31, 2010, the victim slipped into a coma, and on August 12, 2010, less than three weeks after the agreement was signed, she died. Based on the terms of the agreement the defendant had drafted, the mortgages were discharged following the victim’s death, and St. Hilaire claimed ownership of the property and changed the locks without having paid the victim a cent.

In the aftermath of this case, District Attorney Ryan, recognizing that elder and disabled persons may be especially vulnerable to fraud, filed legislation, An Act to Protect the Property of Elder or Disabled Persons, to strengthen legal protections to protect the state’s senior population.

The bill, House Bill 3029, sponsored by State Representative Paul Brodeur, would create a chargeable offense where an elderly or disabled person does not give consent to the conveyance of their property. The bill would also require a caretaker, if there is one, to be present when property is conveyed to a third party to verify that the transfer was voluntary and lawful, and would ensure that elderly and disabled victims are provided with restitution commensurate with the value of their property.

Given that financial exploitation of an elder or disabled person is frequently committed by people with close access to them, this bill provides important increased protection for the Commonwealth’s growing senior population. It is estimated that nearly 1.5 million Massachusetts residents, about 21 percent, will be 65 years or older by 2030.

This was St. Hilaire's second trial for the same case.

In May 2012, St. Hilaire was found guilty of larceny over $250 from a person over the age of 60. The sentence and restitution was stayed, pending the defendant’s appeal. St. Hilaire’s larceny conviction was overturned by the State Supreme Judicial Court on January 2, 2015.

But based on the "grave injustice done to the victim in this case,'' Ryan said her office went to trial a second time in this case.

In the aftermath of this case, Ryan, recognizing that elder and disabled persons may be especially vulnerable to fraud, filed legislation, An Act to Protect the Property of Elder or Disabled Persons, to strengthen legal protections to protect the state’s senior population.

The bill, House Bill 3029, sponsored by State Representative Paul Brodeur, would create a chargeable offense where an elderly or disabled person does not give consent to the conveyance of their property. The bill would also require a caretaker, if there is one, to be present when property is conveyed to a third party to verify that the transfer was voluntary and lawful, and would ensure that elderly and disabled victims are provided with restitution commensurate with the value of their property.

Given that financial exploitation of an elder or disabled person is frequently committed by people with close access to them, this bill provides important increased protection for the state’s growing senior population, Ryan said.

It is estimated that nearly 1.5 million Massachusetts residents, about 21 percent, will be 65 years or older by 2030.

Before becoming District Attorney, Ryan served as Chief of the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office’s Elder and Disabled Unit, where she prosecuted a myriad of crimes involving financial abuse and physical abuse of the most vulnerable victims.

In that role, she collaborated with business and community leaders to conduct risk assessments and develop prevention plans for elders and disabled citizens. Ryan continues to host seminars in community settings to provide advice to residents about how to protect themselves.