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Wendy Zeigler was arrested for she had hidden her part in hiding the $25,000 in a safety-deposit box and She had also taken taking the money out of it on the day Susan and her children disappeared. Most investigators didn't believe Zeigler knowingly conspired in theft. However, she had so far refused to cooperate with the police. Her testimony was badly needed and the real purpose of arresting was to throw a scare into her so that she would give evidence against her mentor.
It worked. The ploy was probably aided by a brazen move on
Bradfield’s part. Just three days before his theft trial was
to begin, he filed suit to collect on Reinert’s life insurance
policies.
Zeigler offered to testify and was granted immunity.
Judge Robert Wright presided over the trial for theft by
deception. He reminded the jury that that was all they were
trying. “Susan Reinert’s death has nothing to do with this
case,” he said.
Defense attorney John Paul Curran told the jury that the
prosecution wanted them to believe that “because Mr. Bradfield had
saved some money over a period of years that he has got to be
guilty.”
Prosecutors first called bank representatives who told of
Reinert’s efforts to withdraw $25,000 at one time for a supposed
investment and her settling for pulling her funds out in increments.
Chris Pappas testified about how he and Bradfield had wiped
fingerprints off cash totaling more than $25,000. “Mr.
Bradfield held on to it for a period of about a week to ten days,
and then he mentioned he was worried about having it in his
apartment. He asked me if I would hold on to the money.
I did so.” He kept it in his home until Bradfield decided it
would be better to put it in a safety-deposit box. Pappas
opened a safety-deposit box in a bank close to his home and put the
cash there.
Later, Pappas testified that Bradfield told him he had asked
Zeigler to take the money out but put $300 back so the box
wouldn’t be suspiciously empty.
Susan Myers testified to the financial difficulties of their
store, shoring up the district attorney’s contention that it was
unlikely Bradfield had simply saved the cash.
Zeigler testified to her role in the financial finaglings.
She told how she had been given several thousand dollars in cash
that he put into envelopes. Then he had given her a key to a
bank safety deposit box. She took out cash from that box.
The next day she had phoned Bradfield, who was then in New Mexico,
about Reinert’s death. Then he instructed her to put $300
back in the box.
Perhaps the saddest witness was Bill Bradfield’s elderly
mother, Nona. She had a strong physical resemblance to her son,
especially in her intense blue eyes. She testified to gifting her
son money over the years, attempting to support the defense argument
that he could have saved the cash. On cross-examination,
prosecutor Edward Weiss pointed out that the checks were loans that
Bradfield had repaid. Nona allowed that he had repaid some but
was vague as to how much.
At one point, Weiss asked, “You still love him very much?”
“Yes, I do,” Nona Bradfield replied.
“You would do anything for him?”
Nona was alert to the implication. “No,” she replied.
“I wouldn’t do anything. I wouldn’t tell an untruth for
him.”
On the advice of his attorney Bradfield never testified.
The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before convicting
Bradfield on August 3, 1981. On December 22, he was sentenced to up
to two years in jail.
In the meantime, the world lost one of the investigators
primarily responsible for bringing Bradfield to justice. Joe
VanNort, 57, was on the pistol range trying to make his shooting
qualifications when he suffered a fatal heart attack.
Bradfield was released from prison on January 28, 1983, when
Joanne Aitken posted his bail.
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