Imprisonment Sedation Isolation Exploitation Abused Robbed & Euthanized

January 2, 2008

Dear group, I am planning to send the following letter to Texas Senator Kip

Averitt and the Texas Attorney General. Please review and advise me.

Dear Representatives,

Nursing Homes usually play a key role in the guardianship abuse: Imprisonment,

sedation with TMAPS drugs, Isolation, Exploitation, Abuse, Neglect, Robbery, &

Euthanized

Citizens have the right and duty to demand accountability from those

who are elected and appointed to serve and protect. I continue to do

just that. What government official has the morals, integrity, and

ethics to stop these robberies and tortures of our most vulnerable

citizens? It is apparent that " the good old boys club " is too

protected, and that the evil and greedy are allowing their duties to

serve and protect citizens to be transgressed upon.

Warn

all vulnerable citizens and take appropriated legal action to stop the obvious

" Rings of Thieves In Guardianships " !!!!!!

With

Hard Evidence of Criminal Official Mis-conduct (a felony), the District

Attorney (in Hood County) & Texas Attorney General has taken no

action against Maurice Walton (brother of Republican District Judge). I

still have the evidence (which will soon be viewable to the world)

that Maurice Walton (acting as an arm of the court as appointed

Attorney AdLitem) allowed and contributed to my mother's continued

abuse, neglect, exploitation, and with the exposure of TMAPS; the

apparent homicide of Mom, who like thousands of

vulnerable citizens (even children) were prescribed deadly TMAPS drugs,

and fraud of Mom's estate (and Medicaid funds which paid for much of

the reported deadly and expensive TMAPS drugs, and the blatant neglect

and abuse). How many more have been victimized in Hood County Court? I

know of others. How many in Texas (the count and list is starting )?

How many nationally (Victims of Guardianships are speaking up)? What

government official will, or will not, take actions (the list is

starting). Who will be listed on which list? Will anyone show that our

most vulnerable will not be tortured, killed, and robbed by those who

are paid, elected, or appointed to serve and protect? The Dallas

Morning News article (below) only hints at how outrageous our most

vulnerable are treated. The release of " Retirement Community, Or Senior

Trap " exposes much more.Continuing to demand care, justice, and accountability

for Mom and others,

A. Durant (Mother's Advocate)

Concerns arise over guardians

People appointed by probate court judge turn up on woman’s will

11:39 AM CST on Thursday, November 16, 2006

By Krause and Formby / The Dallas Morning News

By all accounts, the sisters in their 90s were no longer able to look

after each other or their $824,000 joint estate.

Mildred Erle Veatch began to show senility and delirium in 2001. Her

sister, Helen, was in worse condition and would die later that year.

Their doctor notified Denton County’s probate court that neither sister

was able to manage their assets anymore. No other relatives existed to

help. Don

Windle

Probate Court Judge Don Windle immediately placed both sisters under

court-appointed guardianships, moved them to a Denton nursing home and

restricted access to them. By early 2002, Veatch was rewriting her will

— which had not been updated since 1960 — with the help of her

court-appointed guardians and attorney. When

Erle, as she was known to friends, died this past summer at age 95, the

rewritten will was opened and showed surprising contents. Among the 10

beneficiaries were: * Judge Windle, who was to receive $50,000.

Beverly McClure

* Beverly McClure, the court-appointed guardian of Veatch and Windle’s

ex-wife and court investigator, who was to receive $100,000.

* Duane Coker, a court-appointed attorney who represented Mildred

Veatch’s interests, who was to receive $50,000.

* and Roy , Windle’s friend, personal accountant and

court-appointed guardian of the Veatch estate, who was to receive

$50,000. Another $120,000 was used to cover

court fees Windle approved for the appointees and their lawyers during

the five-year case. Guardianship and probate

experts say it’s unusual for a probate judge and court appointees to be

written into a will during an active guardianship case.

Darlene Payne , an experienced Houston probate attorney, said she

isn’t aware of any legal prohibition against accepting the money unless

undue influence was exerted to gain control of an estate. But that

doesn’t mean someone in that situation should accept it, she said.

“If it was me as ad litem, I’m running, if it’s $20 million or

$20,000,” she said. “It’s an appearance I wouldn’t want.” McClure

and Coker did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

After being contacted by The Dallas Morning News, said on

Wednesday that he has given up any claim to the money and that he

didn’t know he was in the will until after Veatch died.

Windle also said he didn’t know he was in the will until August, after

Veatch died. He recused himself from the case on Sept. 6 and on Sept.

22 gave up any claim to the money. He and said that they

didn’t do anything improper and were just trying to help Veatch.

The will is still in probate, and proceeds have not been distributed to

any of the beneficiaries. To date, no one has come forward to contest

the will. The attorney who helped Veatch

rewrite her will said he was surprised and concerned by it, but he said

she wanted to include all those listed.

“Those were the people that Ms. Veatch felt had pretty much saved her

from a difficult situation,” Tim Banks said. “They were everybody she

knew.” Coker and , as well as their

attorneys, are among a small group of lawyers and other professionals

whom Windle repeatedly tapped for work in his court over the years,

according to an investigation last year by The News.

In mid-September, Windle received a public reprimand from the State

Commission on Judicial Conduct for using his position to help McClure,

who was then his wife, win a contract from Denton County to provide his

court with volunteer guardians. It was the highest sanction against a

judge the commission can issue. Doctor’s warning

Veatch, a former University of North Texas business professor with a

house full of books, was always eager to research any and every topic

for longtime neighbor Doris . Helen Veatch was a gifted

organist who loved to play the massive instrument in the sisters’

house. “They were very nice people and very

good neighbors to me,” said. “You couldn’t ask for better

people than Erle and Helen.” Neither sister had married, and both

were childless. A court investigation found they had no known heirs.

In November 2001, a court-appointed psychiatrist warned of allowing

Mildred Veatch to bestow gifts.

“I have some concern about her giving gifts to anyone currently helping

her because of her lack of family and friends,” Dr. Shupe wrote

in his report. He said in the report that he

thought Veatch could write a will but that any “will or large gift”

should be reviewed with her guardian. In

late December 2001, Windle signed an order declaring Veatch to be

partially incapacitated and “incapable of managing her property and

financial affairs.” On the same day, her

court-appointed attorney, Coker, reported that her condition had

improved and that she wanted to write a will and should be “assisted in

doing so without further delay.” Less than two weeks later,

arrangements were being made to rewrite the will.

Windle in January 2002 ordered that she “no longer have the right to

make any gift of real or personal property” except for writing a will.

His order said she could not exercise authority over her estate or hire

anyone to assist her. In late January, Banks

arrived at Veatch’s nursing home to help her change her will. Her

sister had recently died, and Veatch wanted to revise her will, Coker

wrote in court documents. Banks said he

doesn’t recall who hired him shortly before the Jan. 30 will signing to

represent Veatch, but believes referred him. said he

couldn’t recall who hired Banks. The court had prohibited Veatch

from hiring her own attorney. ‘I was floored’

Windle said state law does not allow a court to prevent someone from

writing or rewriting a will, regardless of the person’s mental state at

the time. But Banks was nevertheless cautious.

“Anytime that you’ve got someone who is elderly and have any reason to

doubt their competence, you have to be more careful than you would be

otherwise,” he said. The proceedings were

videotaped. But , who was named executor of the will, said last

week that the 8mm tape plays only static. The tape is not part of the

court file, and when a copy of it was requested by The News,

said the tape was in the hands of another attorney. Banks said he

determined Veatch knew what she was doing and that it was what she wanted

to do.

“It was unusual, there is no doubt about that,” he said. “But we’re all

entitled to leave property to whomever we want to.”

Banks said he did not tell any of the beneficiaries that they were in

the will. Veatch did not want them to know, he said.

, who held onto the sealed will, said he found out he was a

beneficiary when he opened the envelope after Veatch died. “I was

floored,” he said. He said he would have asked her to leave him

out of it had he known.

“We didn’t ask to be in the will,” said , who prior to

Wednesday had declined comment to The News on the question of whether

he would keep the money left to him. “It’s distressing to be in there

because of the appearance it gives.” Suitable

guardians

Windle said he appointed his probate investigator — McClure — to be

Veatch’s guardian because he wasn’t aware of anyone else willing to

take on the responsibility. At the time,

Denton County did not have a guardianship program, and the state was

not willing to provide guardians, he said. “I was under the

impression that there were no qualified applicants that wanted to serve,”

Windle said.

That comes as a surprise to Dr. ph Strittmatter, a veterinarian who

lived across the street from the Veatch sisters. At the time,

Strittmatter and his wife, a family practice physician, had known the

sisters for four years and were friendly with them, seeing them once a

week on average, he said. Strittmatter said

he met with McClure and Coker in 2001 and that they asked him and his

wife to serve as Veatch’s guardian. Court

documents show Strittmatter filled out a four-page “guardian’s initial

plan” that was filed in November 2001. In

Coker’s report the following month, he wrote that the Strittmatters

“would be good candidates for the position.”

Strittmatter said he thought it was a done deal. Then, McClure informed

him of a change of plans, he said, once she found out the size of the

estate. “She told us that Erle was very special and she wanted do it

personally,” he said.

Terry Hammond, executive director of National Guardianship Association,

said it’s unusual for a probate judge to appoint a court staff member

as a guardian unless there aren’t any other suitable alternatives.

“Typically, the courts want to ensure an arm’s length distance in the

relationship between the ward and the court,” he said, without

commenting specifically on this case. The

court investigator’s duty is to prepare a report on the proposed ward

and look for suitable guardians, he said.

“It is generally presumed to be in best interest to appoint someone

they know and are familiar with,” Hammond said.

A proposed guardian can be disqualified under state law for various

reasons, such as being someone whose conduct is “notoriously bad.”

Other reasons are if they owe the ward money, have a claim against the

ward, are incapable of handling the job due to lack of education and

other factors, or if they are found unsuitable by the court.

Coker and McClure had warned in 2001 of unnamed “wrongdoers” who were

possibly out to get Veatch’s money, according to court documents. The

warning led to Windle restricting access to the sisters, but the court

never found conclusive evidence pointing to any alleged interlopers or

who they might be. “There is at least some

evidence that the Temporary Ward has disposed of some part of her

estate and might have signed papers allowing others access to her

estate,” Coker wrote in an August 2001 motion.

Voicing concerns

Strittmatter told The News in an interview that while Windle and his

court appointees limited access to Veatch, they were also taking her

out to restaurants for her birthday and during holidays. In 2001,

Strittmatter said he and his wife wanted to invite Veatch to their house

for Thanksgiving.

But she said she had other plans — that McClure had already planned a

dinner for her that day along with Windle.

Windle said he didn’t attend meals with Veatch during the early part of

the guardianship case. He said he got the impression from McClure that

Veatch wanted him at the events, which he said Coker also attended.

Windle said he would “exchange pleasantries” with Veatch at the four or

five lunches and dinners he attended, but that he never discussed the

court case. “As for why she might have had

an affinity for me personally … I don’t know,” he said. “She was a very

dear lady. She was in some very difficult circumstances.”

Windle said it was the only guardianship case in which he attended

social events with the ward. He said he viewed the case as a success

story because Veatch seemed happy with her improved life.

But Strittmatter said Veatch complained to him that McClure would not

allow her even a few dollars from her estate to buy gifts for the

Strittmatters’ young daughter or others.

“She would complain about not having enough money,” Strittmatter said.

“It would take her several tries to even get the money for a $10 book.”

Nine months after being written into Veatch’s

new will, McClure filed a report saying Veatch “remains very vulnerable

to others’ influence on her money.” a

Mixson, of the Texas Senior Advocacy Coalition and the National

Committee for Prevention of Elder Abuse, said it would be a conflict of

interest for guardians to inherit the ward’s estate.

“Anyone like that is vulnerable to undue influence, especially when

isolated,” she said. “To me, it stinks to high heaven ethically.”

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January 2, 2008