Insurance fraud led to Colleyville slaying, police say

A father and son stalked and killed a 72-year-old Colleyville housekeeper in September as part of an insurance fraud conspiracy, the Colleyville police chief said Wednesday.

The son, Bernard Gorman, 26, was arrested Wednesday morning in Florida on a murder warrant.

The father, Gerard Gorman, is believed to have killed Anita Fox on Sept. 23 in a house where she worked in the 500 block of Frontier Court.

Gerard Gorman died of natural causes in January in the Houston area, Police Chief Michael Holder said at a news conference.

“We believe we have the people responsible for the murder,” Holder said. “The motivation for the murder of Ms. Fox was greed.”

The Gormans knew about a $1 million life insurance policy on Fox, and Gerard Gorman and other unidentified people were paying $700 a month each to maintain the policy, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The affidavit says Bernard Gorman is “the nephew of the listed life insurance beneficiary.”

The Texas Department of Insurance is among those looking into the case, and an insurance fraud investigation is ongoing, Holder said.

A warrant was issued Friday for Bernard Gorman, and he was arrested Wednesday in Davenport, Fla. Colleyville detectives were on their way to interview him in a Florida jail, Holder said.

Investigators believe that Fox didn’t know about the insurance policy.

“The two named suspects traveled to North Texas from the Houston area a few days prior to the murder of Ms. Fox,” Holder said. “It’s believed they followed her for a few days to determine her habits and look for the right time to carry out the murder.

“We believe they had a connection to the insurance policy and their intent was to kill her and somehow collect from the proceeds of that money.”

Holder declined to comment on whether the Gormans tried to collect.

He said investigators have not determined a connection between the Gormans and Fox, who lived in Alvarado.

The Gormans became suspects within days based on a tip from a person in Johnson County, the affidavit said. The tipster had noticed the same pickup in three places on two days and found it suspicious. The tipster included a photograph of the pickup, from which investigators got a license plate number.

That led them to Bernard Gorman in Harris County, and he was arrested on an unrelated traffic warrant Oct. 4. Colleyville detectives went to Katy to interview him, according to the affidavit.

Gorman told them that his father had borrowed his pickup to drive to Oklahoma between Sept. 19 and Sept. 24. He said he accidentally left his cellphone in the truck. The detectives got search warrants for Gorman’s cellphones, iPad and pickup, according to the affidavit.

They found a text message sent from Bernard Gorman’s phone Sept. 21 that read, “Sorry I can’t talk me and him is in half murders.” Bernard Gorman’s explanation was that he and his father used those words to describe their arguments.

According to the affidavit, cellular tower tracking showed that Bernard Gorman’s phone was near the Colleyville house Sept. 23 and traveled back to Houston that day. Detectives found an Internet search on the phone from Sept. 25 that read, “Anita Fox - Fort Worth.”

About three months later, on Jan. 19, detectives interviewed Bernard Gorman again. This time, he admitted lying in the first interview, according to the affidavit.

He told them that he and his father arrived in North Texas on Sept. 19, went to several locations where Fox was known to be and to the house on Frontier Court on Sept. 23. He accurately described the exterior of the home and the street layout.

Bernard Gorman said his father entered the home and later came out with blood on his arm, the affidavit said. He gave other descriptions that matched witness accounts and said they stopped at a gas station so Gerard Gorman could wash his arm.

The Gormans have minimal criminal records.

“The deceased father had a short criminal history — nothing major,” Holder said. “At this point, we really haven’t found anything on Bernard.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 2:32 PM with the headline "Insurance fraud led to Colleyville slaying, police say."