Lawyer targeted in claimed murder plot says not enough was done to protect her family
An Indiana matrimonial lawyer allegedly targeted by a mother and son in a bizarre murder plot says authorities haven’t done enough to protect her and her family. Even though two suspects have been arrested, Rebecca Eimerman is fearful that she is still in danger.
She credits her husband, Michael McQuinn, with saving her by spotting suspects Renee Perillo, 51, and Richard Perillo, 21, hidden in the cargo area of her Chevrolet Suburban, outside the couple’s Noblesville home. The Perillos claimed to be there for the purpose of getting high, according to authorities. McQuinn bluffed them into waiting for Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies to arrive by telling them he had a gun, reports the Indianapolis Star in a lengthy article republished by USA Today. McQuinn did own a firearm, but it was in the truck he usually drives.
After law enforcement arrived and took the two Perillos into custody, they found both a syringe (later determined to contain a lethal dose of the anesthetic succinylcholine, which ordinarily is used in surgical procedures) and a loaded Glock in the cargo area of the Suburban, the attorney tells the newspaper. Meanwhile, although it took her a few hours to make the connection, Eimerman realized that the Perillos had a link to a divorce-settlement collection case she has been working on: Renee Perillo’s boyfriend, a physician, is the defendant.
Eimerman says she immediately contacted those in charge of the criminal case and urged them to do whatever they could to hold the Perillos in custody while it was being investigated. “I think I was on the phone with the (prosecutor’s office) on Friday, May 22 at 2:30 in the afternoon, begging them to do something,” Eimerman told the newspaper. “Begging them to hold these people. I knew that everything I said sounded like an episode of ‘Dateline’ or sounded like a movie.”
However, the two, who were not at that point facing murder conspiracy charges, soon were released; their $20,000 bond required only 10 percent down. Renee Perillo’s boyfriend, Dr. Arnaldo Trabucco, reportedly paid their bond. The initial charges against the Perillos included handgun possession and drug possession.
Meanwhile, as authorities later learned, Richard Perillo had reportedly boasted to another inmate that he came to Noblesville to do a hit on a lawyer, a criminal affidavit alleges. The inmate informed law enforcement the day after the Perillos were released on bond.
The affidavit says police found Internet searches for Eimerman, her home and her SUV on Renee Perillo’s phone. A search of the Toyota Avalon the Perillos are alleged to have parked near Eimerman’s home turned up a stolen license plate, latex gloves, duct tape, a tranquilizer gun and a silicone face mask, among other items of interest, the newspaper reports.
Although Eimerman was told about the inmate’s statement, she says she learned about other alleged facts in the case, such as the lethal dose of succinylcholine, from media reports.
Amy Summerfield, a deputy Hamilton County prosecutor working on the case, said authorities moved swiftly but it took a couple of weeks to investigate sufficiently to file the more serious charges the Perillos are now facing, which include murder conspiracy.
“That was an ever-changing situation,” and the case itself was “incredibly complex,” Summerfield told the IndyStar, so it simply took a while to investigate.
“They were booked in,” she said of the Perillos, “and as we continued to collect evidence, they bonded out faster than the case came in.”
Even with the two in custody, Eimerman said she still doesn’t feel safe and worries that another stranger could show up at her home.
“I’m sure I’m still in danger,” she told the newspaper.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyer targeted in claimed murder plot says her husband saved her life by taking her car”
