The Kellers and Their Millions

Prosecutors promised a quick retrial.

They had been frustrated by Cooks rulings that barred evidence about Kellers earlier life, including the abductions of his children, his name change and allegations of physical abuse. Also barred were the results of a psychological evaluation conducted as part of the custody fight over Fredchen.

But those results came to light during a bail hearing following the mistrial.

Psychologist Stephen Alexander said that he found Keller to have a "narcissistic personality disorder," along with certain sociopathic traits.

"They tend to see themselves as special, unique," Alexander explained. "They have a sense of inherent superiority...They don't feel shame the same way we do."

Cook decided to continue to deny bail, and Keller was packed away to a jail cell to await the retrial.

But Kellers leukemia is said to have recurred, and his condition and treatment schedule led to numerous postponements. Both Paul and Eric, his adult biological sons, had died of cancer in recent years.

Keller Trust was being run by employees, and Fredchen is in the custody of Angelika, Roses sister.

Fredchen Keller

Meanwhile, attorneys' fees continue to accumulate as Roses survivors pressed a civil wrongful-death lawsuit.

Keller is said to have paid $3.8 million so far to attorneys involved in his divorce and criminal and civil casesand his legal meter is running at a rate of $75,000 a month.

The electronic abstracts of the various legal filings in the Keller cases now run to some 50 pages on the Palm Beach court clerks website, and more than a dozen lawyers have a piece of the action.

It reached a point where even the lawyers were hiring lawyers.

Martin Haines, Roses divorce lawyer, was forced to hire an attorney to help legitimize the $1.4 million bill he sent to Fred Keller.

Another lawyer has accused the Keil brothers, Wolfgang and Klaus, of "reckless waste of estate assets by the payment of excessive attorneys' fees." Yet another, Theodore Babbitt, has asked a judge to curtail the number of attorneys drawing from the Keller well.  

"I am concerned that there are a lot of fees being taken out of the estate and that there are too many lawyers," Babbitt told the Palm Beach Post.

One attorney called the proceedings "a circus."

Rose Kellers siblings and her son, approaching his teen years, stand to inherit the womans estate, with Fredchen designated to receive 70 percent. But at last report, nearly every dime flowing into the estate was going toward paying attorneys fees.

"There's only so much money," attorney Babbitt told the Florida paper.

Keller was retried and convicted on Jan. 31, 2007, for the shooting death of his ex-wife, 34-year-old Rosemarie Keller, and the shooting of her brother, Wolfgang Keil. A jury took five hours to convict Keller.

On August 22, 2007, Fred Keller died of Leukemia in prison at the age of 73.