STATEMENT BEFORE THE TOM GREEN COUNTY COURT - MARCH 9, 2006
The following statement was given before the Tom Green County Court on March 9th, 2006 when the defendant, a woman who had abused our parents, accepted a plea agreement which had been presented to the defendant's attorney by the District Attorney. The defendant pled guilty to three counts of Felony Elder Abuse. Due to the lack of physical evidence, the District Attorney could not charge the defendant with a more serious crime, although she was responsible for our dad's premature death. After the judge accepted the plea agreement, my sister and I were then given permission to read the following statement to the defendant. The name of the defendant has been removed from this statement.
My name is Franciene McDonald. I am one of four daughters of Frank and Bert Henry.
Our parents are victims of the defendant seated in this courtroom.
My mother, my sister and I, along with our extended family and friends, wish to express our gratitude to all the people who have helped us by investigating and prosecuting the case against this defendant. We are grateful for the competence and hard work of the police detectives, the compassion of the victims counselor and the expertise and diligence of the District Attorney's office. Without the goodness that lies within each of you, there would be no justice done.
Before I address the defendant, I would like to introduce the court to the victims of these horrific crimes, victims who could not be with us today -- Bert and Frank Henry --, two good and gentle and loving people who did nothing to earn this defendant's hate and abuse. Frank and Bert were both elderly and ill. They were defenseless against the evil this woman brought into their home.
Frank Henry is now dead, his life cut short by the actions of this defendant. Our dad was a wonderfully gifted, generous and loving man. Our dad was a man who had great dreams and through his own hard work, his energy and his intelligence he achieved those dreams. Our dad was a man of great integrity and great courage, and through his long and loving commitment to our mother was granted a great love.
Bert Henry is now lost without her memories in the fog that is dementia. Bert can no longer see her husband of 61 years, she cannot feel her husband's hand in hers, she cannot be reassured by her husband's loving words. Bert and Frank Henry have been separated by the actions and the will of this defendant.
In our mother's heart she knows that our dad is still with her, still watching over her, still loving her as he has always done. Frank and Bert Henry are bonded by an amazing love and a steadfast devotion to one another through all eternity. No one can destroy the love which Frank and Bert have shared for more than 60 years.
Ten months ago the defendant was fired from her job of caring for our parents. Within days of her firing, our dad died of the abuse that he had suffered at her hands. He was surrounded by the loving family which God had granted to him, a loving family dad had created and nurtured for so many years.
Since the time of the defendant's firing, our mother Bert Henry, has recovered all of the weight, nearly 20 pounds, which she had lost when the defendant was present in her home. Mom had multiple urinary tract infections under the defendant's care, and she has had none in the 10 months since the defendant was fired. Mom talks more with all of us; she finds some little joy in each day, and she no longer appears anxious and afraid; that our mother has recovered, that she is still alive and is doing so well is proof that this defendant is not a giver of care!
This woman, who stands before us, with malice and hate, withheld food and medicine from our dad, causing him to lose so much weight that he could no longer survive. With every bite of food which you bring to your mouth, may you remember our father's food which you flushed down the toilet, dumped into the trash or ate yourself. May that memory make bitter the taste of everything you eat from this day forward.
May you remember daily the ugly, hurtful words you said to our father, telling him "you are going to die, old man. Your daughters can't save you!" May you remember daily how you told our mother when she asked for her husband that "Frank is screwing another woman"! May these hateful and hurtful and awful words ring and burn in your ears for all eternity!
You forced our loving mother to sit in her urine soaked clothes for hours at a time, you sedated her, with your heavy hands you struck our mother, you forced so much food into mom's mouth that you caused her to vomit, you put duct tape over our mother's mouth to silence her, you forced a pillow over mom's head to show her that you had the power of life and death over her. What you did to our loving father is so gruesome and so horrible that I cannot repeat it here!
May all the emotional, mental and physical pain, the degradation and humiliation which you inflicted on our parents come back to haunt you, so that even when you sleep, it will not be a restful sleep, but one filled with visions of demons and ghosts and the faces of those whom you have hurt!
You greedily accepted the kindness and generosity that our family offered to you. You spat on the friendship we wanted to share with you; you manipulated others to hide what you were doing. It was not enough for you to be respected as an equal; you wanted to prove that you were more powerful than all of us. You wanted to prove that you could stealthily take away the lives of two people who meant the world to us, and that you could destroy the love which our parents shared.
The results of your evil, barbaric actions are not what you anticipated. Though our father no longer walks this earth as he once did, he is still very much with us. When our father participated in giving us life, he gave us half of our very being; his spirit, his life force, his courage is in every cell of our bodies. Throughout our dad's life, the words of wisdom which he spoke to us have been etched into our minds. The love that our dad shared with us still fills our hearts. No one, not even you, can separate us from the love and the life of this wonderful man. Frank Edward Henry will always be our father. And for as long as we live, Frank Edward Henry will continue to be our hero, our teacher and our guiding spirit.
My sister and I have always cherished and loved our sweet mother. In the difficult times that have followed our father's premature death, we have gained a greater understanding of our mother's goodness; we have seen our mother's amazing strength in adversity; we have learned from our mother's faith in a better future and we have witnessed our mother's abiding love for all of her children. We have grown closer to one another, tested by the horrible evil that you unleashed in our parent's home.
What have you gained by your hateful, deceitful actions? You have proven to the world that you are sadistic, that you are without a conscience, that you are a liar, that you care for no one except yourself. You have proven to the world that no torture, no degradation or humiliation is too despicable, too horrible for you to inflict on your defenseless patients.
You are not now, nor will you ever be the powerful person you envision yourself to be. You are a convicted felon, and you will forever be marked by your deeds!
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