Con who killed parents sues bro for granny’s money

Oct. 17--A killer con -- behind bars for cold-bloodedly murdering his parents for their insurance money more than 25 years ago -- is back in court suing his brother over an inheritance from their grandmother, saying he has the dough coming to him.

"That money was supposed to be for me if I got out on parole," William Duclos, 45, told the Herald in a jailhouse interview yesterday. "My brother was supposed to hold that money for me."

His brother, Joe Duclos, said he's been forced to spend money on legal bills fighting William's lawsuit, filed last December, to seek $166,000 -- the proceeds from the sale of the house owned by their grandmother, Lillian Greulich, who died in 2009.

Joe Duclos said he already distributed the money, including about $7,000 to his brother, which he said is more than his grandmother instructed.

Now he fears he could lose the home he shares in Ashburnham with his wife and two young children.

"This was closed years ago," Joe Duclos said. "I had a will that I thought was the will -- that everyone agreed was the will -- and there were no problems until more than four years later. He signed off on everything. Now I'm left holding the bags on this.

"I lost my folks and now I'm being injured by him again and messed with by the legal system," he said.

His brother and an accomplice, John Smith, shot Duclos' parents in their bedroom May 22, 1989, with two rifles taken from a gun cabinet in the home, according to parole board records.

The murder, which the two had plotted to make look like a robbery, followed an argument William Duclos had with his mother over the proceeds of an insurance policy, records show.

In 1990, Duclos pleaded guilty to two counts of murder. But two years later, Duclos duped his grandmother into giving him $13,000 under the guise of an investment deal.

Instead, he used the cash to solicit what turned out to be an undercover state trooper posing as a hit man to kill Smith and make it look like a suicide.

As part of his scheme, Duclos had forged suicide notes ostensibly from Smith. The notes exonerated Duclos and falsely accused his father of molesting Smith -- an idea he got from watching an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

At the time, Greulich told the Herald she felt foolish about being duped by Duclos -- the man who had killed her daughter.

"I don't know how he could do this to his own grandmother," Greulich said. "He's got me a little mad."

In the prison interview yesterday, Duclos said he is owed his grandmother's money because he uncovered an earlier will naming him as heir to most of her estate.

The state parole board unanimously denied Duclos' release just last month, saying he "continues to exhibit the same selfish, manipulative, and entitled behavior that apparently existed at the time he set out to murder his parents."

The board pointed to Duclos' court battle with his brother Joe as proof he shouldn't be released.

William Duclos said he plans to appeal and thinks recent changes to the parole board, including an upcoming new chairman, would bring a different outcome.

Duclos did not directly respond to questions about why he signed an agreement in 2009 to name his brother administrator of the will. When told his brother Joe could lose his own house if his challenge is successful, he said, "That's not accurate. My grandmother always said he had more than enough money."

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