$5 million bond set for suspect in Noblesville murder scheme
After skipping bail in early June, a man accused of working with his mother to plan the murder of a Noblesville lawyer will have to come up with $5 million if we wants to bond out again.
Richard “Richie” Perillo, 21, Fallbrook, Calif., appeared by video Monday afternoon for an initial court hearing. Investigators say he and his mother, 51-year-old Renee Perillo, Panama City, Fla., hatched a plan to kill Rebecca Eimerman, an attorney pursuing unpaid divorce settlement money from Renee Perillo’s boyfriend, Dr. Arnaldo Trabucco.
The Perillos were originally supposed to appear in Hamilton Superior Court June 5 following their arrest on lesser charges after Eimerman’s husband found the pair hiding in the back of the attorney’s SUV.
Instead, after Trabucco paid their $20,000 surety bonds, the Perillos left the state and spent weeks on the lam before being tracked down by U.S. marshals.
Richard Perillo was arrested June 11 in San Diego. His mother was arrested nearly two weeks later in a small Montana town.
They both face a felony charge of conspiracy to commit murder, as well as charges of theft, possession of paraphernalia, carrying a handgun without a license, criminal trespassing and unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle.
During Monday’s video hearing in Noblesville, a TV was mounted on the wall of the courtroom as Hamilton County Magistrate David Najjar presided.
After Najjar called Richard Perillo’s name, the handcuffed suspect walked into frame, placed a stack of papers on the table in front of him and plopped into a green chair set up in front of the camera.
He answered Najjar’s early questions about understanding his charges and hiring an attorney with brief “yes” answers. The only correction he offered was making sure his address on record was for California, not Nevada.
His longest response came after county prosecutors stated that they were seeking either no bond or a bond of $15 million in the case.
Richard Perillo said that although he had skipped bail earlier he planned to return to Indiana.
“The only reason I went to California was to visit my father real quick, and then I planned on coming back,” he said. “If I do get a bond, I’m asking to lower that amount, and I’ll come back to court with an attorney.”
After taking a moment to consider Perillo’s statement, Najjar set his bond at $5 million cash only, meaning Perillo will need to pay all of it before he can be released. He is being held in the Hamilton County jail.
He will return to court Sept. 25 for a pretrial conference.
His mother is still awaiting extradition back to Indiana.
Police continued to investigate the Perillos after they were released on bond on May 23. According to an affidavit filed June 5, Richard Perillo had bragged to a fellow inmate of coming to Noblesville to kill a local attorney.
During their initial arrest in May, Perillo and his mother had a Glock handgun, later determined to have been owned by Trabucco, and a syringe, which was later determined to carry a lethal dose of anesthesia called succinylcholine, according to court documents.
Call Star reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.