Judge Larry Seidlin is setting up his defense for the elderly abuse complaint lodged against him -- and it appears to be another variation of "I'm the victim here."
Seidlin's wife, Belinda, spoke with a staffer at TMZ.com after the national gossip website followed the Pulp report below, saying that "she and Larry don't live with the old lady [and] have nothing to do with her care," according to the website.
Perhaps the judge doesn't live with 83-year-old Barbara Kasler, but they are deeply involved in her care, feeding her and transporting her (work for which they've been compensated to the tune of at least a half million dollars and as heirs to her multi-million dollar estate). And, according to Kasler's niece, Seidlin keeps his clothes in Kasler's closet and at times climbs into bed with the seriously ill widow and tells her he's her "son."
Hey, the man's got to work for his money.
Belinda's next claim to TMZ directly contradicts her contention that the family has nothing to do with her care. She says the family attempted to demote Kasler's caretaker, Monica Izquierdo Vial, to housekeeper (a job she had before being hired as caretaker) because she "wasn't up to the job."
This is bull. The only reason Seidlin was going after Izquierdo's job was because she had begun to complain about the treatment of Kasler by the judge and his family. She wasn't going to stand by and watch them devour "her lady's" estate while at the same treating her like shit. Even Seidlin's mother-in-law, Barbara Ray, told me yesterday, while she was furious about the complaint, that Izquierdo is totally devoted to Kasler and cares for her well. Izquierdo, a soft-spoken woman, says she's not bothered by Belinda's words.
"The people in this building (Marine Tower) told me I was on the Internet and that she's talking about me and saying I'm just a cleaning lady," Izquierdo told me. "But everybody in this building knows me, they have known me 12 years. I'm just telling the truth and she has no truth to defend herself."
She excused herself quickly, saying that "her lady," Kasler, needed her.
Meanwhile, new information is coming to light. Kasler's niece, Corine, tells me that she learned that Seidlin took the ailing Kasler along with him on at least one trip to California and displayed her to producers who were concerned about the previous state investigation. "She never should have made that trip in the condition she's been in," said Corine Kasler.
Seidlin's mother-in-law, Barbara Ray, meanwhile, told me it was a dream vacation for the ailing Kasler.
It's just so obvious what is happening here. Seidlin and his family's actions simply stink. It's one thing to help an elderly neighbor -- it's another thing entirely to chisel her savings, assets, and considerable estate.
Another new tidbit: Corine Kasler and Izquierdo say Seidlin tried the same trick on an elderly widower in the building. Izquierdo says that Paul Bass, another Seidlin neighbor, told her that the judge asked Bass if he would put the judge's young daughter, Dax, on his will.
"He told me he told the judge that he wouldn't do it," says Izquierdo. "He was upset about that, of course."
Bass has not returned a message from the Pulp.
It's interesting to note the differences between the comments that have been posted here and on JAABlog about Seidlin and those on TMZ, which seemed to favor the twisted side of Judge Larry and his leeching relatives.
Local people, especially at the courthouse, know the story on Seidlin. They know he was called "Lightning Larry" because he would fly through dockets so he could play tennis in the afternoons. They know WSVN's Carmel Cafiero followed him and found that he took three to four lunch breaks and often didn't work after noontime and that the normally loquacious judge clammed up when Cafiero attempted to question him camera. They know he solicited gifts from at least one attorney whom he gave lucrative appointments to defend cases in his courtroom. They know a packet containing Anna Nicole Smith x-rays mysteriously turned up in a trash bin at his Marine Tower condo building. They know his entire performance in the Anna Nicole Smith case was a sham and disgrace to Broward County. They know he has buddied around with notorious con artist Joel Steinger of Mutual Benefits fame.
But, as a commenter on JAABlog, noted: "Nothing sticks to Larry."
Ain't it the truth.
