Killing your ex and having his money too

June 17, 2010

It is Sleeping with the Enemy meets Ruthless People. But any way you cut it, this real-life story is such a perfect mix of Hollywood drama and comedy that it has doubtless got dozens of screenwriters scrambling for their pens across Beverly Hills.


When officials in California's legislative departments received a petition from police detective John Pomroy of Pomona, near Los Angeles, they must have felt they were watching the latest instalment of Basic Instinct.

Unusual plea

Mr. Pomroy approached California legislators, in particular Democratic Assemblyman Marty Block of San Diego County, with a very unusual plea. He requested Mr. Block's help in closing a particular loophole in Californian divorce law that had bitten him hard personally — the right to prevent your ex-wife from running off with a chunk of your life savings if she hires a hit man from a motorcycle gang to have you bumped off.

Yes, you read it right.

According to reports, Mr. Pomroy went through a contentious divorce back in 2002 and his ex-wife, after turning violent due to alcohol and drug abuse, lost custody of their two sons. She apparently also lost some of her appreciation for the law — and possibly her grip on reality.

Instead of seeking legal recourse, the former Ms. Pomroy approached members of the feared Vagos motorcycle gang in San Bernardino County to kill her ex. What she clearly did not bargain for was the gang members alerting the police. Policemen reportedly disguised as biker-assassins taped a conversation with the ex-wife, leading to her arrest and subsequent conviction for soliciting murder.

Think this is twisted? There's more.

Given the oddities of the law in California, Mr. Pomroy's ex-wife was actually able to claim half of his wealth because she had not tried to kill him herself.

In other words, hiring an even more efficient killer enabled her to get away with serving a mere 22 months in prison, and then collecting a cool $70,000 from her ex-husband's estate in the divorce.

Mr. Pomroy commented on his attempts to get the law changed, saying: “This Assembly bill is not going to award me anything retroactively; I'm not looking for that … I'm just trying to prevent some poor sap in the future who goes through this, to prevent him from losing his assets to somebody that's trying to kill him.”

Assemblyman Marty expects the bill to pass unopposed in the State Senate this week.