Manhattan ? On one side of the courtroom sat the parents of Carmin Ross, a slain Douglas County woman. They occasionally wiped away tears during a two-hour hearing to settle a dispute over their daughter’s estate.

On the other side of the courtroom, stone-faced, sat Ross’ ex-husband, Kansas State University English professor Thomas E. Murray, the man Ross’ father believes is responsible for the still-unsolved homicide.

Despite the tension that filled the courtroom, the harshest words of the two-hour hearing weren’t spoken. They were slipped to the judge as an exhibit: an angry, accusatory letter from Ross’ father to Murray detailing why he thinks Murray killed his daughter.

“There does not appear to be a motive for Carmin’s death other than passion and rage,” the father’s letter reads. “You are the only person who would or could benefit from Carmin’s death.”

The daughter’s money

In his letter, Danny Ross alleged Murray blamed Carmin Ross for ruining his life and became enraged when she wouldn’t reconcile their marriage.

The purpose of the hearing in Riley County District Court was to settle a dispute about who will oversee roughly $300,000 Carmin Ross left to the 5-year-old daughter she had with Murray.

But the parents’ suspicions of Murray weren’t enough to sway the judge, who found in favor of Murray and allowed him to choose the company that would oversee the money.

Murray wanted a Manhattan trust company to control the money Ross left to their daughter, Ciara; Ross’ parents, of Lapel, Ind., wanted to do it themselves.

One reason Judge Meryl Wilson gave for denying the Rosses’ request was that it would be better for a neutral third-party to oversee the money, given the family conflict.

Expenditures from the account must be approved by a judge.

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Carmin Ross, 40, an attorney, mediator and peace activist who had recently divorced Murray and found a new love interest, was found slain Nov. 14 at her two-story rental home on East 1150 Road north of Lawrence.

Unanswered questions

No one has been charged. But several times during Tuesday’s hearing, the Ross family’s attorney, Terrence J. Campbell of Lawrence, tried to delve into facts of the continuing police investigation.

At one point, Campbell asked Danny Ross, “Did Mr. Murray ever tell you anything about blood that might be found in his car?”

Murray’s attorney, James W. Morrison of Manhattan, objected, saying the question was irrelevant to the hearing. The judge agreed and didn’t let Ross answer.

Later, as Campbell was asking Murray about whether he expected to use any of the money set aside for Ciara, Campbell asked what would happen if his financial situation changed.

“If, for example, you were arrested and charged,” he began.

Again, Morrison objected.

Again, the judge sustained his objection.

Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies initially searched Murray’s home in Manhattan, but later said he wasn’t a suspect.

Sheriff Rick Trapp said Tuesday police still were awaiting crime-lab results and that he’s hopeful someone would be charged.

‘Scream to the world’

Murray has repeatedly declined to be interviewed about the case, citing the advice of his attorney, and he did so again after leaving court. He’s said only that the death was the saddest moment in his life.

Murray testified he’s doing everything he can to keep good relations with his former in-laws and to take care of his daughter, who’s now living with him and attending kindergarten in Manhattan. He said she has separation anxiety and that the two of them have been seeing a psychologist since Carmin Ross’ death.

Morrison, Murray’s attorney, blamed Danny Ross’ anger for causing a rift in the family. Morrison said the father’s actions and statements since the death had “killed” the relationship with Murray.

But Campbell responded that the situation isn’t one of the Rosses’ choosing.

“The Rosses want to scream to the world, but at this point they still can’t, what they know about what happened,” he said.

He said the couple fear jeopardizing the investigation if they made public what they know.