KIRO-TV – Seattle
True crime writer Ann Rule’s sons are charged with theft and forgery. Prosecutors say they stole more than $100,000 of their mother’s money.
According to charging documents, Michael Rule is accused of forging $103,628 of his mother’s checks.
His brother, Andrew Rule, is accused of coercing or harassing his mother into giving him $23,327.
“I have never in my life, as God as my witness, stolen anything whatsoever from my mom,” said Andrew Rule.
Investigators were tipped off about the charges of financial exploitation last month when her son-in-law emailed the King County Prosecutor’s office.
Court documents also show that when some checks were overdrawn, one of Ann Rule’s caregivers helped her download an app at a bank where she has an account. Through the app, the documents say, Rule discovered her checks were being forged.
According to prosecutors, “Andy would pester and bully Ann relentlessly for money, sometimes, threatening suicide, sometimes trying to make her feel guilty, sometimes screaming obscenities at her, until she would finally give in and write him a check.
We asked Andrew Rule, “Did you steal money or harass your mom for money?”
He replied, “Absolutely not. Absolutely not.”
When asked about the allegations, he said, “Basically I used to have a gambling problem but I don&’t anymore and I have absolutely no idea why I was pulled in at the same time my brother was.”
No one came to the door at Michael Rule’s house when KIRO-TV tried to ask him about the forgery allegations.
Ann Rule is a true crime writer best known for “The Stranger Beside Me,” about serial killer Ted Bundy, and her book about child murderer Diane Downs, “Small Sacrifices.”
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