Broward County, FL: Does lawyer's murder need fresh look after Ponzi allegations?

Ex-husband of firm's COO is accused of killing RRA attorney Melissa Lewis

Michael Mayo

News Columnist

November 18, 2009


Before the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm became known as the possible scene of one of the biggest financial crimes in Broward County history, it was touched by the tragedy of violent crime — the March 2008 murder of attorney Melissa Britt Lewis.

At first, police theorized that she was a random victim, followed to her Plantation home by a robber upon leaving a supermarket. There were signs of a struggle in her garage, and her body was found in a nearby canal two days later.

Then the official version changed upon the arrest of Tony Villegas, the then-estranged husband of Lewis' best friend, Debra Villegas, RRA's chief operating officer. Tony Villegas allegedly killed Lewis because he was jealous of how close the women had become, investigators said.

Tony Villegas, a conductor for Florida East Coast Railway, has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial, held without bail for 20 months in the Broward County Main Jail.

Now that federal authorities are investigating firm co-founder Scott Rothstein and Debra Villegas for their possible roles in a suspected $1 billion Ponzi scheme, is it time to go back to re-write on Lewis' murder once again?

"Honestly, I don't know what to think anymore," Carrie Fisher, Lewis' younger sister, said this week from her South Carolina home.

But local police, prosecutors and even Tony Villegas' defense attorney have downplayed any possible connections between the two headline-grabbing cases.

When I spoke to Tony Villegas' defense attorney, Bruce Fleisher, earlier this month, he said, "Whatever Mr. Rothstein did, I'm not sure it has anything to do with Mr. Villegas."

I thought it was a curious response from a man whose job is to look under every rock for reasonable doubt. Especially since Debra Villegas, Rothstein's longtime assistant, has such close ties to the central figures in each case. I called Fleisher again Wednesday but didn't hear back.

"I know there are a lot of conspiracy theorists coming out of the woodwork," Plantation Police Detective Robert Rettig said Wednesday. "But we stand firm with the integrity of our case. The right suspect has been apprehended and we're waiting for justice to be served."

A spokesman for the Broward State Attorney's Office, Ron Ishoy, said he couldn't "discuss or speculate" about "an ongoing case headed to prosecution."

For her part, Carrie Fisher still believes Tony Villegas is guilty, citing DNA and other evidence.

Police arrested Tony Villegas based on a variety of factors, including hair samples at the scene, cell phone records, and reports that he washed mace from his clothes the night of Lewis' disappearance. Lewis used mace on her attacker, police said.

As for Debra Villegas, Fisher has gone from sympathy to suspicion, now that revelations about RRA have come out.

After her sister's funeral, Fisher said Debra Villegas came up to her and said, "Let's keep in touch. If you or your family need anything, just call."

Fisher said she tried calling Debra Villegas three or four times the following year.

"I never heard back," Fisher said. "I thought maybe she was depressed and having a hard time, feeling guilty about my sister's death (because her ex-husband was accused), so I gave up. It made me feel sorry for her. But now I'm just angry."

Fisher lived in South Florida at the time of her sister's death, and she used to clean Lewis' house weekly. "My sister hated housework," she said. They'd have dinner, and she said they'd sometimes talk about Debra and Tony, who were splitting up.

"Melissa said Tony was always cordial to her — that's why she wasn't afraid of him," she said.

Fisher said her sister would hear from Debra "what a monster Tony was," how he'd slash her tires and threaten to burn her alive in front of their kids. "I don't know how much of that was true," Fisher said.

Debra Villegas' attorney, Paul Lazarus, declined comment on the Lewis murder case.

Tony Villegas had no criminal record before being charged with the Lewis' murder, and there were no domestic violence complaints or restraining orders against him.

Fisher said she now wonders about Debra's credibility and motives. Some in her family wonder if Debra played Lewis and Tony Villegas against each other, and if she wanted Tony Villegas or Lewis out of the picture.

Perhaps that sounds far-fetched. But at this point, with federal investigators looking at whether Rothstein and his associates used bogus cases to rope in investors and forged documents with a federal judge's signature, I suppose anything is possible.

Fisher said she's hesitant about having her sister's murder case re-examined: "If they do reinvestigate, it'll just create reasonable doubt and (Tony) will go free and I'll really be angry...but if there was some kind of conspiracy they all need to pay."