When the new neighbors posted signs in the front windows directing visitors to "keep on moving," long time residents read that like a red flag. Who are these people and where was the homeowner they'd known for more than 30 years?
Those simple questions would lead the Channel 8 I-Team on a three-month investigation into death, potential fraud, divorce, and that's just the beginning.
Neighbors on Wishing Well Lane had gotten used to Morris Rozet. He'd lived there longer than some of them had been alive.
So when strangers showed up in his place, the locals suspected something wasn't right. They had no idea how right they were.
When Morris Rozet bought the house in southeast Las Vegas more than 30 years ago, he joked to his neighbors that his $27,000 investment would one day be worth half a million. And while it came close, the truth is he never planned to sell it.
The house and everything in it was the casino maintenance man's legacy .for his four children and eight grandchildren.
Mike Larson said, "He always bragged about his 80 grandkids. He'd say, 'I got 80 grandkids. I travel around to visit them. I just got back from Hawaii.' "
Neighbor Mike Larson tried to buy the place for $155,000 just before the real estate boom.
Rozet, he says, balked at the offer. So when new owners showed up in May with dumpsters to haul away Rozet's stuff, Larson had a few questions.
"I was worried what happened to him and they said we don't know anything about that. We're the new owners of the house," Larson said.
The new owners punctuated their explanation. So Larson researched the sale and then Rozet's whereabouts. He discovered two things.
Morris Rozet died on March 11, 2005. Yet somehow sold his home from beyond the grave.
Larson continued, "I heard that he passed away. And the date on the quit claim deed was a year after he passed away."
The deed, obtained by the I-Team, shows CJ Management Group paid Rozet $100,000 for his house on January 24, 2006. And was supposedly signed by Rozet a full nine months after he died.
The document has a notary signature from Mecklenburg, North Carolina. Using public records the I-Team identified CJ Management Group. CJ is for Calvin and Joann Wynn.
Coincidentally, Calvin Wynn hails from Union County, North Carolina right next door to the notary's address in Mecklenburg.
Calvin Wynn said, "Please put your cameras away, I'm not saying anything on the camera."
Investigative Reporter Colleen McCarty: "There's some things about the paperwork here that just seem a little strange."
Calvin Wynn: "Ma'am, if there's something strange about the paperwork, you're telling me I'm going to be out $200,000. That's what you're telling me?"
Off camera Wynn explains he paid Morris Rozet $100,000 for the house negotiated the deal by phone, paid by wire transfer and executed by people he can't identify.
He says he never received any keys, instead got in through a broken back door.
Wynn calls himself the victim and laments over and over about the several hundred thousand dollars lost on the house and renovations.
McCarty: "So, you paid him $100,000 for the house?"
Wynn: "That was the deal."
McCarty: "Yes, but did you pay him?"
Wynn: "I did not pay him."
With his attorney present, Calvin Wynn tells a different story. He claims he agreed to pay Rozet $100,000 for the house after he sold it and shows the I-Team the contract to prove it.
But Rozet never signed it because he was dead at the time.
McCarty: "That story is pretty hard to believe."
Wynn: "I'm just being honest with you. I'm telling you the truth."
And what of Joann Wynn?
Her attorney tells the I-Team his client had no knowledge of any fraud and is cooperating with the ongoing police investigation.
Joann Wynn filed for divorce a few days before this interview.
Back on Wishing Well Lane the house sits empty save for a few remnants of Rozet's life.
Neighbor Mike Larson said, "The guy's dead, the guy's not going to miss it. Well, his family members are going to miss it. There's a half a million dollars in legacy, pictures, memorabilia -- things."
Things that should have been passed down from one generation to the next not tossed in the garbage by strangers like so much trash.
The Wynn's tell the I-Team they stored some of Rozet's personal items and valuables just in case someone came looking for them.
The Metro Police Department is investigating this case and we're told the potential crime here is not assuming control of the house.
The Wynn's took out a $127,000 loan on the home and that may ultimately result in criminal charges. Though no charges have been filed at this time.
Send feedback to I-Team reporter Colleen McCarty at cmccarty@klastv.com
Morris Rozet (family photo)
Moris Rozet's house on Wishing Well Lane.
Calvin Wynn said, "Ma'am, if there's something strange about the paperwork, you're telling me I'm going to be out $200,000. That's what you're telling me?"
I-team reporter Colleen McCarty talks with Joann Wynn and her attorney.
