Cat poop costs Texas widow a Ford Explorer





PHOTOS: 20 cats in costume that really wish they weren't ... less A Tyler woman involved in a lawsuit over inheritance of two vehicles belonging to her late husband allegedly hid a bag of cat feces in one of them with the motor running and the heater turned on.



PHOTOS: 20 cats ... more A Tyler woman involved in a lawsuit over inheritance of two vehicles belonging to her late husband allegedly hid a bag of cat feces in one of them with the motor running and the heater turned on. Photo: (c) Vicki Stephenson Photo: (c) Vicki Stephenson Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close Cat poop costs Texas widow a Ford Explorer 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

A Tyler woman involved in a lawsuit over inheritance of two vehicles belonging to her late husband allegedly hid a bag of cat feces in one of them with the motor running and the heater turned on.

The suit concerns a Porsche Boxster and a Ford Explorer purchased by Charles Souter, who died April 10, 2012, in Tyler, court documents state.

According to his obituary in the Tyler Morning Telegraph, Charles Souter served as a

B-52 pilot in the U.S. Air Force and later became a pilot for United Airlines.

His wife, Marcia Souter, and his brother, Gary Souter, disagreed on the disposition of his assets, documents state.

Charles Souter's will, drawn up in January 2010 in Washington state where he lived at the time, left his estate to Gary Souter and named his as the executor. The will also stated that Charles Souter intentionally made no provision that Marcia, who was not yet his wife, would receive any portion of his estate.

The couple married in May 2010 in Nevada and moved soon afterwards to Texas to be closer to Charles Souter's family, records state.

After Charles Souter's death, his wife and brother-in-law eventually agreed that Marcia Souter would receive some assets but disagreed on the Porsche, which Charles bought her as a gift, and the Ford Explorer that he bought for her to drive a few days before he died, according to a judgment from the 12th Texas Court of Appeals in Tyler.

Smith County's 7th State District Court had ruled in April 2014, after a suit and countersuit, that the Explorer was Charles Souter's separate property and passed through his estate to his brother and that Marcia Souter waived any interest she held in either the Boxster or Explorer.

Marcia Souter appealed the trial court's ruling in May 2014.

In reviewing the events of the case in its Feb. 27 judgment, a three-judge panel of the appellate court stated that Marcia's attorney faxed a letter in May 2012 to Gary's attorney, informing him that she claimed an ownership interest in the two vehicles. Six days later, however, she authorized Gary to pick up the vehicles and did not reassert an ownership interest in them.

According to appellate court records, Gary Souter picked up the Porsche without incident but when he retrieved the Explorer, she allegedly "(1) left the vehicle running in the driveway, (2) had almost no gas in the vehicle, (3) turned the heater and heated seats on even though it was May in Texas, and (4) hid cat feces in a plastic bag in the vehicle."

Records also show that Marcia Souter kept the title and a key fob for the Explorer and testified that "she always said the Ford Explorer was her car," according to the appellate court decision.