Beverly Hills Wiretapping Case: Targeted Billionaire's Son Testifies

The son of a late billionaire testified Tuesday that he did not know until May 2007 that his father's then-wife allegedly hired disgraced private eye Anthony Pellicano to wiretap telephone lines in the couple's Beverly Hills residence nearly a decade earlier.

Richard W. Colburn told a Los Angeles Superior Court jury that he was unaware that someone had been listening to what he thought were private conversations when someone emailed him a story from The New York Times about Pellicano's eavesdropping victims.

Jacqueline Colburn allegedly sought Pellicano's help in getting an edge in her divorce proceedings against Richard D. Colburn, according to the story.

"I felt violated," he said. "I think over time I came to accept what had happened, but it still didn't change the fact that what happened was wrong."

He said he called his father in Beverly Hills from his Chicago-area home often. He said some of the conversations involved his health, a topic he would not have discussed with Jacqueline Colburn or a non-family member.

Richard W. Colburn and two other children of Richard D. Colburn from a prior marriage—Carol Colburn-Grigor and Keith W. Colburn—along with Colette McDougall, former assistant to Richard D. Colburn, sued Pellicano and Jacqueline Colburn in December 2007 for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The plaintiffs allege that in 1999 Jacqueline Colburn paid Pellicano to install listening devices at the couple's Beverly Hills home.

Richard D. Colburn, who died in 2004, made a fortune in construction-related businesses and endowed the Colburn School of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

Jacqueline Colburn is the sister of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Teresa Sanchez-Gordon. The couple married in 1998—Jacqueline Colburn was 38 and Richard D. Colburn was 85—and divorced in 2002. He died two years later.

McDougall and the Colburn children believe hundreds of conversations between Richard D. Colburn, his family members and business colleagues were recorded over a period of months and perhaps years, according to the suit.

Jacqueline Colburn testified last week she sought Pellicano's services to protect her after she received threats from Colburn-Grigor's then-boyfriend, Vernon Moss. She also said that she suspected her husband's daughter was financing civil litigation brought against her by two household employees. She said she was pregnant at the time with the couple's second child and under a lot of stress.

Also testifying Tuesday was McDougall, who said she also did not learn until shown the May 2007 newspaper article that her conversations were likely overheard by Pellicano and Jacqueline Colburn.

McDougall said she worked in an office building that was located on the Colburn estate.

"I was upset and angry," she said. "I was trying to think about what was going on back then, but it was upsetting to know someone was listening to private conversations of mine."

McDougall said she also had health problems at the time that she did not want revealed to others. McDougall also said Jacqueline Colburn was hostile toward her. She told the jury she overheard a conversation the woman had with her husband over a speaker phone.

"I recall her yelling at Mr. Colburn, 'Get rid of her, I want her out of here,'" McDougall testified.

McDougall also said her boss' wife had trouble getting along with the household domestic staff, hiring and firing nearly 100 people during the time she was married to the wealthy man.

Jacqueline Colburn testified last week that her husband temporarily denied her money and food when she left the property as the marriage was dissolving in July 2000. However, McDougall said she was in charge of dispersing checks and denied her allegations.

"I think I would have been aware had he told me to cut off her checks," McDougall said.

Pellicano was convicted in 2008 of conspiracy, wiretapping and other charges and is serving a 15-year federal prison sentence. The Colburn children and McDougall are seeking a default judgment against him. Attorneys for Jacqueline Colburn say the woman's stepchildren and McDougall waited too long to file the suit and insist there is no evidence she instructed Pellicano to do anything illegal.

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