The unfolding saga over the late Zappos founder Tony Hsieh’s estate has shifted to a forensic battle following his tragic death in a Connecticut fire.
After succumbing to injuries from the fire in 2020 at the age of 46, Hsieh was initially believed to have passed away without leaving a will.
However, a mysterious document, a supposed seven-page will dated March 2015, surprisingly surfaced at a Las Vegas courthouse through the mail last year. This unexpected revelation has become the focal point of the ongoing legal dispute over his estate, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
In this image dated September 30, 2013, Tony Hsieh is seen addressing attendees at an Economic Club luncheon in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The retired Zappos CEO tragically died due to injuries from a Connecticut house fire. (Cory Morse/The Grand Rapids Press via AP, File)
The contentious will includes a no-contest clause specifically directed at Hsieh’s parents and two younger siblings, stipulating that if any family member contests its terms, they risk being entirely excluded from the inheritance.
Hsieh’s father, Richard Hsieh, has demanded a jury trial.
Tony Hsieh, chief executive officer of Zappos.com Inc., speaks at the Skybridge Alternatives (SALT) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Thursday, May 18, 2017. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The document also landed at the office of Las Vegas trust attorney Robert Armstrong, who said he never met Hsieh despite being named as a co-executor in the alleged will, according to the Journal.
A man who identified himself as Kashif Singh reportedly called Armstrong’s office and claimed he found the document among the belongings of his late grandfather. The office later received what appeared to be the grandfather’s death certificate from Balochistan, Pakistan, the Journal reported.
More than a year later, the origin of the document remains murky. The man who allegedly sent it has not appeared in court, the witnesses listed on the document have not come forward, and Hsieh’s family has called the alleged will a scam.
Now, forensic experts are taking over.
A photo shows the home where Zappos founder Tony Hsieh was staying at the time of the fatal fire. (New London Fire Department)
A Las Vegas judge in May appointed forensic specialist Gerry LaPorte as a special master to oversee testing of the document. LaPorte’s team began examining the purported will in early June at the courthouse, after shipping about 150 pounds of forensic gear from his Virginia lab to Nevada, according to court filings cited by the Journal.
The testing is focused largely on ink analysis, including the ink used on the signatures. The process could help determine whether the document is consistent with its stated 2015 date or whether the signatures were added much later.
Additional tests could include handwriting analysis, fingerprint scans and DNA examination, the Journal reported.
The New London Fire Department sketch shows the approximate location of Tony Hsieh’s body at the time of the fire. (New London Fire Department)
Hsieh’s family has hired its own forensic expert, Larry Stewart, a former U.S. Secret Service lab director and chief forensic scientist. Stewart has worked on major cases including the Unabomber investigation and reinvestigations of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy.
LaPorte is expected to submit a written report by July 24, after which the family’s experts can respond. News Media has reached out to Armstrong, Singh and the Hsieh family’s attorney, Dara Goldsmith, for comment.