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The sisters of the slain wife of a former “Survivor” producer said that Monica Beresford-Redman was surprised when Bruce Beresford-Redman took out a life insurance policy on her before the couple took a trip to Mexico from which she never returned.
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“My sister had mentioned that Bruce had convinced her to do a life insurance before they left, and that was something that they had never done before,” Jeane Burgos told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira Friday in a satellite interview from Santa Monica, Calif. “She even mentioned that her life at that time looked like a movie.”
Jeane and her sister, Carla Burgos, said that Bruce Beresford-Redman took out a policy only on his wife. Published reports have said that he had taken out policies on his two children as well. The policies reportedly are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“We had heard reports that there was additional life insurance policies, but that’s not our understanding,” the sisters’ attorney, Alison Triessl, told Vieira. “In fact, we only know of one trip life insurance policy that was taken out on Monica.”
Custody of children
The sisters also argued that they should have custody of the couple’s two children, Camila, 5, and Alec, 3.
The children have been in the care of Bruce Beresford-Redman’s parents, David and Juanita Beresford-Redman, since they returned to California after their mother’s body was found in a Cancun sewer on April 8. Their father had remained in Mexico at the request of prosecutors investigating the case.
But last week, the producer returned to the United States without his passport. On Friday, a Los Angeles judge refused to take temporary guardianship away from the grandparents.
Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff also ordered that competing petitions for permanent guardianship by the grandparents and by Carla Burgos still proceed to a hearing June 17 to set a trial date. The grandparents then withdrew their ex-parte motion.
"The situation with the father may be in flux," Beckloff noted.
The judge also refused Burgos' request for the children to attend a Sunday memorial service for their mother, despite pleas by Carla Burgos in court. He said a therapist hired by the grandparents said in a court declaration that it would not be in the children's best interest to attend such a service at this time.
"It causes me great concern to second guess a professional," Beckloff said.
Carla Burgos, flanked by her sister Jeane, said the private service would be held at a spiritual center, limited to a choir, close family and friends, and would be closed to the media. She raised her voice, with emotion, when explaining why having the children there to celebrate their mother would mean so much.
"Losing her is the most pain to have. She was everything to them," she said.
Jeane Burgos, after the hearing, told reporters the memorial would still take place Sunday, despite the children not being there.
"My sister was so loved, we can do many memorials," she said.
The sisters have temporary custody rights on weekends and are seeking full custody of the children.
“We’re the ones that took care of them all the time. We are like her. We think like her. We are just like one, and we could give them all the love they need, 100 percent of the time,” Carla Burgos said.
She said the children are still trying to come to grips with the loss of their mother.
“They’re sad, I think. They’re very happy when they are with us, but we feel they’re sad,” she said.
“We’re concerned about their well-being, definitely,” Jeane Burgos added.
Trying to resume parental responsibility
Bruce Beresford-Redman sought to resume parental responsibility of his two children, and he has been living with the children since Sunday.
“As Camila’s and Alec’s biological parent, it is my desire to immediately resume full custodial and parental responsibility of Camila and Alec, and I am capable and fit to do so,” he said in the documents.
Later Thursday, Carla and Jeane Burgos filed documents saying that they feared Beresford-Redman would take their niece and nephew out of the state if he were granted full custody.
The Beresford-Redmans had reportedly been dealing with marital strife when they went on vacation to the Moon Palace Hotel resort in Cancun. When Monica’s body was found, it showed signs of asphyxiation and a blow to the right temple.
Bruce Beresford-Redman has been considered a suspect by Mexican investigators. He had been ordered to remain in that country while the investigation proceeded but was not held in custody.
His attorney Richard Hirsch said his client, who has not been charged with a crime, had no legal obligation to remain in Mexico and he insists he is innocent in the death of his wife. If Mexican prosecutors charge him, they are likely to face a lengthy extradition battle.
“I was shocked and I was very disappointed that he really didn’t cooperate with the authorities in Mexico to bring the truth to light about the murder of my sister, and he came back here even though he wasn’t supposed to,” Jeane Burgos told Vieira.
Beresford-Redman’s attorney said last weekend he returned to be with his children and attend to family and personal matters.
Beresford-Redman has said his wife went out shopping and never returned.
—Mike Celizic, with additional reporting by The Associated Press
© 2012 MSNBC Interactive
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