Cavern killer claims stake in tourist attraction _By Zeke MacCormack _ (http://www.mysa nantonio.com/email_us?contentID=59563782) - Express-News BOERNE — The life sentence given Dario Acevedo on Monday for the 2005 murder of a man at Cascade Caverns Park leaves unresolved one of his legal issues in Kendall County. Still pending in probate court is a claim by Acevedo to part ownership of the tourist attraction based on a handwritten will left by his late girlfriend, Jill Beardsley, who owned the site with Florida resident Jim Kyle, also deceased. “We think the will she wrote out is valid,” said Ruperto Garcia, Acevedo's attorney, on Tuesday. The document, dated Nov. 12, 2004, and apparently signed by Beardsley and two witnesses, leaves Acevedo, who worked there about a decade, half her interest in the cavern business as well as “all ready cash,” her home there and personal belongings. But Boerne lawyer Robert Ogle, who represented Beardsley before her March 2, 2005, death from an aspirin overdose at age 55, says Acevedo has no ownership rights. He said Beardsley's share in the tourist attraction automatically transferred to Kyle under an earlier survivorship agreement that left each party's half-interest to the other should one die. “I don't think the (handwritten) will is valid,” Ogle said. “She knew full well she had an agreement with Jim (Kyle).” Ogle now works for Beardsley's sister, Kelly Beardsley, who wants the court to recognize a 1994 will filed by her sister. The nature of Acevedo's relationship with Jill Beardsley is a point of bitter contention among the parties. Ramiro Acevedo said his son and Beardsley lived as husband and wife for years. He cited a Cascade Caverns business card in the probate file that bears the name “Capt. Jill B. Acevedo.” Kelly Beardsley has called claims of a common law marriage “ridiculous.” Ogle is unsure if the case will be litigated because, he said, “Going through the probate is kind of futile because there wasn't much left in the estate.” But Acevedo's lawyer, Garcia, plans to press his client's claim, which he said was put on hold pending his retrial. Acevedo was convicted of murder in 2005 but the verdict was overturned on appeal. Last week a Kendall County jury again convicted Acevedo, 31, of murder in the shooting death of Jeffery Donofrio, a friend of Kyle's who was helping make repairs at the caverns site in the wake of Jill Beardsley's death. Rejecting leniency pleas from Acevedo's supporters, state District Judge Keith Williams handed down the maximum sentence Monday. The probate court file on Beardsley also includes a 2005 claim on the estate by Donofrio's parents, Lawrence and Ann Donofrio, also now deceased. Their lawyer said the probate claim was resolved under a confidential settlement in a wrongful death claim brought against Kyle and Acevedo, as Kyle's employee. Andrew Hix, attorney for Kyle's family, declined to comment Tuesday. _http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Cavern_killer_claims_stake_in_t ourist_attraction.html_ (http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Cavern_killer_claims_stake_in_tourist_attraction.html)
