Accused Murderer's Assets Frozen By Dead Wife's Family: Lawyers

DENVER, CO – A Denver man accused of killing his wife the day in 2015 she found out he was having an affair through the Tinder app, had an appearance in court delayed Monday.

Robert W. Feldman, 55 is accused of the first-degree murder of Stacy Feldman, 44. Feldman's lawyers told the court that Feldman was trying to sort out efforts by the relatives of his dead wife to freeze his assets. Lawyers said he could not pay his legal fees without the assets and that he had the right to "representation of his choice."

His next hearing in Denver District Court has been bumped to Oct. 22.

Feldman was not arrested until almost three years after the death of Stacy Feldman. During that time, he told Stacy's relatives he would be cashing in a $750,000 life insurance policy on Stacy, according to a police affidavit.

The afternoon of March 1, 2015, Feldman called 911 from his home in the 3600 block of Pontiac Way in Denver, to report he found his wife, Stacy Feldman, 44, unresponsive in a bathtub with the shower running, the affidavit said. Feldman reportedly told officers his wife had attended a party the night before and consumed several doses of marijuana edibles. He said she was not feeling well when he took the children to a Temple function in Denver. Stacy Feldman's original autopsy said her cause of death was "undetermined" although it did list scrapes and abrasions on her face, torso and extremities.

Denver detectives observed that Robert Feldman appeared to be "overreacting" and gave them conflicting stories about how he found his wife's body, the affidavit said. Feldman also allegedly interfered with fire rescue personnel who called him "over-dramatic" and "purposely not cooperative" as they tried to resuscitate Stacy Feldman. Feldman did not want to have an autopsy performed on his wife, the affidavit said.

In the recording of the 911 call made by Robert Feldman police said they heard a toilet flushing and Feldman made several "guilty indicators" to dispatchers, including not appearing to be out of breath while allegedly performing CPR on his unconscious wife, the affidavit said.

Police got a break in the case when a woman called Metro Denver Crime Stoppers June 11, 2015 to say she had contacted Stacy Feldman by email and phone March 1, the date of her death. She told police she had met Feldman in February through the Tinder app and that Feldman had come to her house for dinner, after which they had sex. Feldman gave her a false last name of "Wolfe." When Feldman and stopped returning her calls, she was able to do some internet sleuthing and find Robert Feldman's information, realizing he was likely married to Stacy Feldman.

She told police she emailed Stacy her to ask if the couple was divorced. The two spoke by phone March 1, and Stacy told her she and Robert were not divorced, the affidavit said. Stacy allegedly told the woman Robert had cheated on her before and that she was "done with him."

Stacy Feldman volunteered as president of the parent-teacher organization at Southmoor Elementary in Denver and worked for a non-profit organization that seeks to cure a rare liver disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, her obituary said.

After the inconclusive autopsy, Denver police asked for another opinion from a national expert on domestic violence involving strangulation and suffocation. In December, 2017, the new expert's reports said he believed Stacy Feldman had been strangled to death and listed the cause of death as homicide, the affidavit said. At that point, Denver detectives made moves to arrest Feldman.

Feldman was arrested Feb. 13 and charged with first-degree murder. He's being held in the Denver jail on no bond.

Related: Robert Feldman's Tinder Date Contacted Wife: Denver Cops

Related: Man Accused Of 2015 Murder Of Wife Appears In Denver Court

Image: Robert Feldman via Denver District Attorney's Office

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