- Father Rob's Exclusive with the Schindlers. He met with
them in Florida.
- http://www.thrownback.blogspot.com/
-
- Hasn't Michael recently stated that he found Terri in
the bathroom, not the hall?
- Interesting remarks in here about the 'potassium imbalance."
"bruises around her neck, consistent with manual strangulation",
and "fractures to the occipital region".
-
- Part II
-
- Michael Schiavo went into some detail on Larry King describing
the circumstances of the injury which caused Terri to be in her present
state. Michael claimed that he woke up in the middle of the night, then
heard a loud thud. He went out into the hall, he said, and saw Terri lying
in the hallway. She was, he said, unconscious. Michael then stated that
he called Terri's brother Bobby, who lived in the same apartment complex
as Terri and Michael. He then said that Bobby told him to call 911 and
that he would come over. Michael claimed that he was holding Terri in his
arms when Bobby arrived. The paramedics arrived a short time later and
began to try to revive her. I asked the Schindlers how his account meshed
with what they knew happened at the time.
-
- Bob Schindler replied "that isn't what happened
at all. What happened was that Michael called us first, and I answered
the phone. He told me that Terri had collapsed and was unconscious. I told
him to call 911. Then I called Bobby and told him to get over there. I
said 'something's going on over there, get over there right now.'"
Bob also said that Michael's claim that he was holding Terri in his arms
was untrue. "When Bobby arrived at their place," Bob explained,
"he found Terri lying face down in the hallway, with her feet over
the threshold of the doorway, as though she had been coming out of the
bedroom. Her hands were clutched around her throat, and her breathing was
gurgling. Michael was sitting on the couch in the living room; he was a
total basket case."
-
- Michael also said on "Larry King Live" that
Terri was bulimic prior to that night, and that her bulimia was possibly
the cause of the potassium imbalance which was discovered when she was
in the hospital. Bob & Mary also find this assertion incredible. Bob's
reaction was "Poppycock!" Terri, they said, was quite healthy
and had a healthy appetite prior to her injury. None of her friends or
family ever saw any signs of any eating disorder, and there was no medical
evidence of it found in her examinations.
-
- This "potassium imbalance" is frequently touted
as the explanation of what caused Terri's collapse. But it is an explanation
that explains nothing. Indeed, doctors for the Schindlers testified in
court, and reiterated at their news conference last Friday (October 24,
2003) that the potassium imbalance was only detected after she was brought
to the hospital. This is after the paramedics had been working on her to
revive her. Part of such treatment is the injection of various drugs and
electrolytes to try to stimulate the heart. These injections were very
likely the cause of the potassium imbalance. The potassium imbalance was
an effect of her collapse and subsequent treatment, and not the cause of
anything.
-
- Terri's heart stopped for several minutes that night,
and that stoppage caused the brain damage that led to her current condition.
It is frequently asserted in press accounts that Terri had a "heart
attack." This too is false. There was no heart attack, and again,
doctors have testified to that effect. A heart attack causes the release
of certain enzymes into the bloodstream. These enzymes are readily discovered
in tests and are used as the "markers" of a heart attack. No
such enzymes were found in Terri's bloodstream, nor any other evidence
of a heart attack. Terri's heart was and is quite healthy: there was no
heart attack.
-
- So what happened to cause Terri to lose consciousness?
No one is sure, because there was never a proper investigation. The Schindlers
do not accept Michael's version of what happened to Terri. Also, Bob related,
"it's in the medical record that when Terri was brought into the hospital
she had bruises around her neck." Doctors for the Schindlers have
testified that those bruises were consistent with manual strangulation.
Furthermore, skull x-rays and head CT scans done about a year after her
injury indicated fractures to the occipital region which have never been
explained. These fractures are consistent with trauma to the head.
-
- The theory that Terri was strangled gains plausibility
when one considers that friends and siblings of Terri's testified that
they were aware that Michael had abused Terri prior to the night of her
injury. Bob & Mary were not aware of this themselves before Terri's
injury. "I found out afterwards," Bob said, "that they [Terri's
friends and brother] had been keeping that from me." But, Bob, explained,
Terri's best friend, Jackie Rhoades, testified at the 1996 guardianship
hearing that she knew Terri was being abused, that she frequently saw her
with bruises on her arms and legs, and that Terri was afraid of Michael.
Jackie further stated that Terri intended to divorce Michael, and that
she and Terri were making plans to do that. Terri's brother Bobby also
testified to his knowledge of Terri's abuse, and corroborated much of Jackie's
testimony.
-
- These allegations and the evidence behind them have been
brought to court in the Schindlers' suits to have Michael removed as guardian,
but have never been properly investigated. Judge Greer dismissed these
allegations with a wave of his judicial wand, saying that "it would
be interesting to know what happened," but that it was "irrelevant
to this case." Judge Greer disregarded Jackie's and Bobby's testimony,
saying that it was hearsay. That ruling will prove to be interesting in
light of the judge's ruling regarding other secondhand testimony in this
case.
-
- On the Larry King Show, Michael also contended that he
was not after Terri's settlement money. As evidence of this he said that
he had offered three times to give that money to charity. Bob and Mary
Schindler confirm that he did make such an offer, but only once. During
the first effort to remove Terri's feeding tube, in 1998, the Schindlers
received a letter from Michael's lawyer George Felos containing the offer.
But that offer, they explained, was contingent on their agreement to remove
Terri's feeding tube. "He said he'd give the money away if I agreed
to kill my daughter," Bob explained. He added that the letter stipulated
that the offer to give the money away was off the table after 10 days.
-
- Why, I asked, did Michael make such an odd proposal?
"Well, that's interesting," Bob answered. "See, the court
appointed a guardian ad litem to determine Michael's fitness as guardian.
His name was Richard Pearse. Pearse said that Michael had a conflict of
interest as guardian because he stood to inherit the money in Terri's fund
if Terri died. Pearse said that Michael couldn't be impartial in his decisions."
"So," Bob continued, "that offer and the letter was Felos'
attempt to remove the appearance of conflict."
-
- Mr. Pearse, in his role as guardian ad litem, also found
that Michael's testimony regarding Terri's purported wish not to live if
she required artificial support was "not credible." So what happened
to the perspicacious Mr. Pearse, as a result of his observing Michael's
obvious conflict of interest and the flimsiness of his story regarding
Terri's wishes? He was removed as guardian ad litem by Judge Greer, at
Felos' request.
-
- Michael has repeatedly asserted that he so doggedly pursues
Terri's death because he is trying to "honor her wishes", because
he loves her. Michael asserts that he heard Terri voice this wish while
watching a television show that involved a person in a vegetative state.
I asked Bob & Mary about this "wish" of Terri's. "She
never said anything like that", Mary answered. "Not to any of
us." When was the first time you ever heard about this wish, I asked.
"It was in 1998," Bob replied, "during the first trial"
[to remove Terri's feeding tube]. "We never heard anything about that
before." The reader will recall that Michael had an opportunity to
explain that "wish" during the 1993 court proceedings, but for
some reason did not.
-
- But, I asked, Michael said that his story has been corroborated.
And some defenders of Michael emphasize that the court found his testimony
"clear and convincing". What about that? "What the court
found so convincing," Bob replied, "was that Michael brought
out his brother and sister-in-law, and they corroborated him. And Felos
brought them out at the last minute, shortly before the trial. They weren't
on the original witness list. Felos blindsided us."
-
- I was, frankly, astonished. I'm no lawyer, but I know
enough to find that somewhat irregular. Didn't your lawyer object? I asked.
"Oh, yeah, Bob said. "She objected all over the place. They weren't
on the witness list, and they were never deposed before the trial, but
the judge allowed them in."
-
- You'll recall that Judge Greer disallowed the testimony
of Jackie Rhoades and Bobby Schindler regarding Terri's abuse, because
it was hearsay. But Michael's testimony, and that of his never-deposed
brother and sister-in-law, were allowed in, and found "clear and convincing".
It would seem that in Judge Greer's courtroom, some kinds of hearsay are
more convincing than others.
-
- Michael has repeatedly avowed his continuing love for
Terri. He did so again on "Larry King Live". Bob & Mary find
his love of a rather strange variety. "If he loved her so much,"
Mary said, "he could start by keeping his marriage vows to her,"
obviously referring to Michael's live-in girlfriend, with whom he has fathered
two children. Furthermore, they find his protestations of love unbelievable
in light of his almost total neglect of her. "In the beginning he
used to visit her a lot," Mary told me. "But after '93, he visited
less and less often."
-
- Bob related that while he was still working [he is now
retired], he used to visit Terri at the nursing home "once or twice
a week" on his way home from work. He and Mary, he added, visited
Terri together on the weekends. "We never saw him at the nursing home,"
Mary said, "and he was never listed on the sign-in sheet."
-
- Nursing home staff complained to the Schindlers that
they could never reach Michael. "They needed to talk to him about
things concerning her care," Bob said. "But they'd leave messages
and he didn't call back." The director of Terri's second nursing home,
David Cross, testified in the 1996 guardianship hearing that he "had
a difficult time" with Michael. The state, Bob explained to me, requires
that nursing home administrators have monthly meetings with family representatives
regarding patient care. Mr. Cross testified that Michael never asked for
or came to such meetings, and that created problems for the nursing home's
compliance with the law. Cross also testified that Michael never made arrangements
for state-required annual physicals either, forcing the nursing home to
arrange them itself.
-
- Bob and Mary assert that since 2000, Michael has rarely
visited Terri. "The only time he visits Terri," Bob said, "is
when a hearing is coming up, and then Felos stages a visit so Michael can
say in court that he visited her recently."
-
- I wondered if Michael didn't visit Terri because he feels
like he has "moved on" with his life. Larry King asked Michael
why he didn't just move on, why he didn't just divorce Terri and marry
his girlfriend. Michael said that he's "content with the way things
are," with his girlfriend. He told Larry he had no plans to marry
her.
-
- "Right," Bob said in an ironic tone. "He
said under oath at the 2000 trial that as soon as Terri died, he would
marry his girlfriend."
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