Couple allegedly forged dead Issaquah man's will, stole $2.6M

A King County couple stole over $2 million from a dead man, forging his will to launder his investment accounts and sell his Issaquah home, prosecutors allege.

Ronald Wisner is charged with 22 crimes in King County Superior Court, including theft, perjury, money laundering, mortgage fraud and forgery. His wife, Melissa Wisner, is charged with assisting in theft and money laundering.

Throughout the scheme, prosecutors allege, the couple stole $2.6 million from 73-year-old Michael Flegle, who died by suicide in a house fire in April 2024. Flegle worked as an engineer for Boeing, lived alone and did not have immediate family members. In the weeks following his death, his home was burglarized, his car was stolen and a series of forged checks were drawn from his checking account. There is no evidence Ronald Wisner and Flegle knew each other, despite claims Wisner made to investigators that they were dear friends."

The Wisners are believed to be living out of state, and prosecutors believe they left Washington in 2025 and went to New Mexico.

King County investigators found evidence that Ronald Wisner monitored public death notices and began researching Flegle's home two days after his death notice was published, probable cause documents state. A sheriff's deputy noticed that Flegle's home had been disturbed since it was initially searched after the fire, according to the probable cause, and his Honda Accord was missing.

Six days after Flegle died in April 2024, Ronald Wisner sold his car and forged Flegle's signature on the car title, prosecutors allege. Two weeks after Flegle died, Ronald Wisner allegedly deposited a $7,800 check from Flegle's checking account.

Ronald Wisner went on to file a fraudulent will with King County Superior Court, forging Flegle's signature and those of two witnesses who were also dead, court documents say.

"The will's deficiencies were not initially recognized," the probable cause affidavit states, and Ronald Wisner was appointed executor of Flegle's estate.

Ronald Wisner assumed control of Flegle's Fidelity investment account, transferring $175,000 to his own Fidelity account before transferring it to a bank account - earning the money laundering charge, prosecutors allege.

He similarly took over a Vanguard investment account, transferring $1.8 million to his own Vanguard account and moving the stolen funds through a series of his accounts, the charging documents state.

Ronald Wisner is also charged with mortgage fraud: He allegedly sold Flegle's Issaquah home without disclosing he had no lawful claim on the property. The home sold for about $548,000, which was deposited into a BECU account he opened after Flegle's death, the documents state. After the sale, BECU investigators froze the account: Flegle's estate and heirs have since recovered those proceeds, according to court documents.

In September 2024, the Wisners bought an Edgewood property they had been renting through an all-cash $368,000 purchase, the probable cause documents state. Both are charged with criminal profiteering: Shortly before Flegle's death, they were facing eviction due to lack of payment, according to court documents. A year later, the Wisners sold the home, and the proceeds were routed to an account in Melissa Wisner's name, prosecutors allege.

Ronald Wisner was arrested for being a fugitive in 2018 and has a history of failing to appear out-of-custody, according to prosecutors. He was sued in 2022 by the estate of a deceased woman, who, he asserted, had promised him her home. He lost the case.

Melissa Wisner's "complicity in these crimes is less than her husband's, a King County prosecutor wrote. She allegedly helped direct $285,000 of stolen funds to her bank account.

With the exception of the sale of Flegle's car and the fraudulent checks, all the transactions flowed from the illegitimate will, the documents state.

About $500,000 of Flegle's estate has been lost and cannot be returned to legitimate heirs, a probable cause affidavit states.

The court has issued an arrest warrant for the Wisners, and an arraignment is scheduled for May.

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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 11:35 PM.