Only in America:
Leatrice Brewer could receive a portion of her dead children's estate through a loophole in a New York law referred to as the "Son of Sam" law.
In 2008 Brewer killed her three children but was not found guilty of the crime due to her documented mental illness.
"The Brewer case is a novel circumstance," Jonathan Turley, George Washington University law professor, told The Associated Press. "The facts do seem to place her outside the scope of the law, although that does not mean there could not be other barriers to her recovering from the estate of her children."
Brewer, 33, cut her daughter's throat and drowned her and two sons because she thought she was protecting them from a voodoo curse. Soon after the murders she attempted suicide, twice, but failed in both attempts. She was found not guilty because of mental disease and has been in a state psychiatric hospital since.
Nassau County Surrogate Court Judge Edward McCarty will preside over a hearing scheduled for next month to determine if Brewer is entitled to a portion of her children's estimated $350,000 estate.
The money is due from two lawsuits the children's fathers received after a settlement with a New York County after they claimed social workers failed to properly monitor Brewer and her children.













