GRANT COUNTY, Wash. -- It's a civil murder case that reads like a made-for-TV movie. But for a Washington family, the drama is painfully real. That's why a brother and sister in Grant County have filed a civil murder lawsuit against their own cousin.
The allegations date back to Christmas Day 2014, when Jennifer Ralston and her brother Caleb McNamara say their cousin killed their father, Timothy McNamara.
Seattle attorney Karen Koehler is representing Jennifer and Caleb.
"By any means that we can, we need to have justice done," Koehler said. "But the goal of the family is that if this woman committed murder, which we believe happened, that she be held accountable criminally. And secondly, we want her pronounced civilly liable."
To understand exactly what happened, Jennifer and Caleb say you have to go back to July of 2012. That's when they say their cousin, a woman named Tracy Shannon Nessl, began a romantic relationship with their recently divorced father.
Timothy McNamara was Nessl's uncle, and 22 years her senior. Jennifer and Caleb say Nessl's father is Timothy McNamara's brother, meaning she and Timothy are related by blood.
"We had been raised in a very Christian, conservative home, and so it was hard for us to digest," said Jennifer. "It was hard for us to understand."
The siblings were still adjusting to the relationship between their father and their cousin when they say the unlikely couple moved from Soap Lake, Washington, to Belize.
"I think they went to Belize on a vacation, and at the same time they purchased a roughly 60-acre fruit farm down there," said Caleb. "I think my dad went to Belize because he really couldn't sell it in a small town, the relationship they were in."
On December 26, 2014, Caleb says he got a text from Nessl letting him know that his father was dead. He says the text came hours after his dad's death.
"The first thing she told me was that he shot himself," said Caleb. "She said it was a gun accident at that point."
In a civil murder lawsuit filed this week, Caleb and Jennifer claim that Nessl seduced, manipulated and deceived their dad for the sole purpose of financial gain. They say 44-year-old Nessl had Timothy McNamara put multiple life insurance policies and properties into her name, including the family farm in Grant County, where Caleb and Jennifer grew up.
The siblings believe their cousin then killed their father with a single gunshot wound to the head.
Belize authorities initially thought McNamara's death was suicide, but within a few months the investigation revealed foul play.
"The evidence is all there," said Jennifer. "It's all there."
Caleb, who traveled to Belize after his father's death, agrees.
"You don't shoot yourself in the back of the head," he said. "It's borderline impossible. And then officers in Belize started coming to me and said, you should really think this through."
An Interpol warrant has been issued for Nessl's arrest, but by the time that happened, she was no longer living in Belize.
Instead, she's living on the McNamara family farm in Grant County that's now in her name. Law enforcement in the United States doesn't have jurisdiction to take her into custody, and extradition to Belize won't be easy or quick.
"It's insane," said Caleb. "This is absolutely insane."
Caleb and Jennifer say it's extremely difficult to see the person they believe killed their father, living on the farm he poured his heart and soul into. They haven't spoken to Nessl in a long time and say they are not welcome on the family farm.
"The number one thing is you want justice for what happened to your dad, there's no doubt about it," said Jennifer. "But when you see everything he worked for his entire life and you were such a part of it and you're not even allowed to be there or go near it, you're like, this is so wrong."
The civil murder suit seeks damages in an amount to be proven at trial. Jennifer and Caleb also hope to regain possession of the family farm and her other properties that once belonged to their dad.
An attorney for Nessl told KING 5 they could not say much due to pending litigation, but he says his client denies all allegations and had nothing to do with McNamara's death.
