ASHLEY McLELLAN - 3 yo (2003) - King County WA

A King County Superior Court jury on Wednesday convicted a man of
drowning his stepdaughter in what prosecutors said was a plot to collect
insurance money.
Joel Zellmer was charged in the 2003 murder of 3-year-old Ashley
McLellan.
Investigators said Zellmer drowned Ashley in the family swimming pool
so he could collect a $200,000 life insurance policy that he took out
three months before her death.
Zellmer always insisted that the girl's death was an accident, and in
court last month blurted out "A lot of lying going on around here!" as
the girl's mother testified.
He said he was asleep when Ashley wandered into the back yard and
into the pool while her mother was at work.
But firefighters who tried to save the girl said they noticed
something strange about her stepfather.
He was calm, mostly dry, and never once asked them if she would live.

"One of the things that I remember thinking when I looked at her was
that she wasn't going to make it. You know, she just had that look
of...we weren't going to be able to revive her," said Capt. Felicia
Beluche, one of several firefighters and paramedics who rushed to save
Ashley McLellan.
"(Zellmer) had, in my opinion, a visible detachment from what was
happening."
Investigators said Zellmer has a history of dating single mothers,
urging them to take out insurance policies, then harming their young
children, including burning the hands of one and giving another an
overheated sippy cup that left blisters on her lips.