BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A woman is outraged that the man who murdered her mother will now inherit money, even though he's serving a prison term of 25 years to life.

Rowan Brooks was convicted for the murder of Stella Fox in 2004. Now, Brooks' mother has died, and the victim's family is furious he could get some of his mother's money.

"It's abhorrent that a convicted man can inherit this kind of money," said Bobby Scrivner, Fox's daughter. "I don't care if it's $5, they should not be able to inherit any money."

Scrivner said the Brooks family will not tell her how much money he could inherit, but she said his mother was "quite wealthy."

Scrivner is Fox's only daughter and said she never liked Brooks. But her mother had been married to him for 18 years when he reported she had died in the southwest Bakersfield apartment they shared. At the time Fox was 68 years old, and Brooks was 65.

Brooks told police Fox must have had a heart attack, but Scrivner said the death seemed suspicious from the start.

"We went over there, and he behaved so strangely in those first hours," Scrivner said.

Brooks was arrested, but released the next day. For a year, police put together evidence. Scrivner said they eventually heard from one of Brooks' own daughters about when he had been at a party with a group of people in the medical field.

"He had asked all these people how you could kill somebody and get away with it," Scrivner said. "They had said potassium."

Scrivner now believes Brooks did that.

"He had given her potassium in her coffee for a couple weeks, and all it was doing was making her sick," the daughter said.

Scrivner thinks one night in August 2004, Brooks tried to inject Fox with potassium.

"And then she woke up and fought him. We know he beat her pretty bad."

At that point, Brooks suffocated her mother with a pillow, according to Scrivner. At trial, the prosecutors presented evidence about the strangulation, to keep it simple for the jury, according to Scrivner.

Brooks was convicted and sentenced to a prison term of 25 years to life.

The daughter said Brooks never admitted the murder, but she had theories about the motive.

"He thought he could get away with killing her easy enough, and having it look like a heart attack," Scrivner asserts. "Then he could get that money and just go on about his business."

During the year that police investigated the case, Brooks got the last $50,000 Fox had, according to Scrivner.

Brooks had also remarried just before he was rearrested in 2005. Scrivner believes he was having an affair at the time her mother was murdered.

Scrivner said Brooks' mother died last December. Eyewitness News called Brooks' sister, she said the family has no comment on this case.

Scrivner said if Brooks can inherit money, that adds insult to her mother's death. She's also afraid he could use the money to abuse the legal system.

"He shouldn't be allowed to get that money, any money, and just continue to use it for appeals," Scrivner said.

Apparently, a prisoner could do that. Inmates can also put money on their "book" in prison, and those funds can be used for buying things like cigarettes or special food.

Scrivner will go back to the local courts, and see if she can get an order for restitution from Brooks in an attempt to get some of the money he inherits. She said they didn't ask for restitution at the time of the murder trial, because he didn't have money at that point.

Jessica Hartnett is a deputy district attorney who prosecuted the murder trial, and she will help Scrivner ask for the restitution order. Hartnett is also frustrated that Brooks could end up with this inheritance.

"It's very unfortunate," Hartnett said. "But, I believe there isn't any legislation presently preventing this from happening."

Scrivner said it's not about the money.

"It's just the principle of the thing," she said.

A spokeswoman with the California Department of Corrections said the victim's family could file as "next of kin" with the prison to get information about Brooks, and Scrivner has done that.

They also recommended that victims' families can contact the McGeorge School of Law, and students can help them. Families can call 1 (800) VICTIMS (842-8467) or visit www.1800victims.org.

The CDC officials also suggested the victim's family could contact a probate lawyer to get advice about accessing Brooks' inheritance.

Brooks is serving his sentence at Pleasant Valley State Prison.

Scrivner said the pain of her mother's death is still deep, and this has rubbed salt in that wound.

"At no point, has he ever expressed any kind of grief or remorse or anything," Scrivner said. "Have you forgotten that my mother was murdered in all of that? They forget that somebody was killed by an evil, evil man that only had his best interests in mind."