Chesco D.A. says heir bilked parents out of $500,000

A member of a West Chester heating-oil dynasty was held for trial Monday on more than 100 charges stemming from what prosecutors termed "a massive theft" from his parents' estates.

Boyd C. "Tidge" Davis Jr., a former West Chester Borough Council member, appeared before Magisterial District Judge Gwenn S. Knapp for a preliminary hearing. He is accused of looting the estates of Boyd Davis Sr. and Nelda Wynn Davis, primarily in 2006 and 2007.

After a six-hour hearing, Knapp declined to dismiss any of the 103 offenses against Davis, which include theft and forgery; his $250,000 unsecured bail remains the same.

The 45-page criminal complaint details multiple allegations that Davis, of West Chester, used his power of attorney to misappropriate more than $500,000 from his parents' accounts, said Deputy District Attorney Ronald Yen. Davis' father, who suffered from strokes and dementia, died at 91 in 2007; his mother was 96 when she died in August 2010.

Defense attorney Evan J. Kelly said Davis, his parents' sole beneficiary, has always maintained that he was empowered to spend the money. "We will continue to fight against these charges," Kelly said.

Davis, who surrendered to authorities July 5, had been at odds with his younger brother, Brooke W. Davis Sr., and sister Jane Helmstaedter over the terms of their parents' wills, changed in the early 2000s to make Boyd Davis the sole heir.

Nearly a decade ago, Brooke Davis successfully sued his brother, contending that he had financially ruined the company they ran together after their father retired in 1981. In 2009, Chester County Judge Edward Griffith ordered Boyd Davis to pay his brother $12.5 million.

Davis Oil Co. began in West Chester in the 19th century as a lumber business; in 1909, it began selling auto fuel and heating oil. In 1955, Boyd Davis Sr. took over the fuel division, which became a lucrative chain of gas stations and convenience stores.

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