Murder charged in Seattle coin collection robbery

SEATTLE — A 46-year-old Seattle woman accused of bilking an elderly woman out of more than $1 million was also charged this week with murder in the stabbing death of an elderly man whose coin collection was stolen at a senior housing complex.

King County prosecutors say Brenda Nicholas and two others killed 70-year-old Navy veteran Francis Patrick Fleming last December in his apartment at the Four Freedoms House.

KOMO reported that Nicholas came into contact with Fleming through an 85-year-old woman. Nicholas has already been charged with manipulating her out of her life savings over a two-year period while posing as a palm reader.

She’ll be arraigned on the murder charge on Thursday in Seattle.

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