Robert Kissel's sister seeks custody of children in care of sister-in-law

The younger sister of Robert Kissel, the American banker murdered by his wife Nancy, filed a petition in a United States court yesterday for custody of her brother's children.

The petition is expected to open a legal battle between Jane Clayton, the late senior Merrill Lynch banker's sister, and Hayley Kissel, the estranged wife of his elder brother Andrew. Ms Clayton, who has two children with her husband Richard Clayton in Seattle, filed the papers in the New York State Surrogate's Court. 'The purpose of the filing is to provide the children with a stable family and loving environment to ensure their growth into productive and happy individuals,' a family member, who did not want to be named, said yesterday.

Following the arrest of their mother in November 2003, the children - Elaine, 11, June, eight, and Reis, five - flew to the US to stay briefly with their maternal grandfather, Ira Keeshin, in Winnetka, outside Chicago.

Andrew Kissel successfully petitioned for temporary custody of the children, before he was charged with orchestrating a fraud that left banks and title companies facing tens of millions of dollars in possible losses. The children are under the temporary custody of Hayley Kissel in Greenwich, Connecticut. She has filed for divorce.

It is understood the three children are receiving a monthly income of at least US$10,000 from their father's estate for their living expenses.

The trial of Robert Kissel's wife gripped Hong Kong over the past few months. Early this month, Nancy Kissel, 41, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The prosecution said she drugged her husband with a sedatives-laced milkshake before bludgeoning him with a heavy metal ornament and rolling his body in an old carpet in November 2003 in their luxury Parkview flat.