Announcing the Guardianship Convention Against Torture Project

by Janet Phelan 

While in Geneva, Switzerland recently I met with a number of disability rights oriented groups. It was suggested to me at that time that the guardianship victims bundle together our complaints and submit under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. The U.S. has both signed and ratified this international treaty and thus is bound to its conditions. Most of us who have faced off the guardianship system have come to the realization that there is no domestic recourse for us. The C.A.T. ofers an international venue which seems to be tailor made to our experiences and concerns.

Here is the link to the C.A.T.: http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html
Please read it carefully to determine if your guardianship situation qualifies under the terms of the Convention. One thing to keep in mind is that the complainant must have exhausted his or her domestic remedies. Another thing to keep in mind is that the C.A.T. is about torture, not about loss of inheritance. So—if you have contacted the FBI or the US DOJ concerning your situation, you would qualify. As probate is a state issue, those who have contacted their State AG may also submit to this effort, per my understanding.
Please email me your submissions at writejanet@live.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please keep your statements concise. All submissions will be confirmed so if you do not receive a confirming email, please re-send.

We Will Not Forget:What We Witnessed - Bobbie Thompson- Part V

-by- Angela V. Woodhull, Ph.D.

Part Five: Bobbie ThompsonWe found another victim in the Seminole County court records—Bobbie Thompson—and decided to go visit her. We found her in a nursing home in a shared room. Although she didn’t make a lot of sense on certain topics, there was one topic on which she made perfect sense and on which she gave us a lot of accurate information.
Bobbie was most concerned about her grown son who had been living her. “He’s been applying for social security disability; he’s living at my house alone. What is going to happen to him?” She provided us with the correct address, so we decided to go pay Roy Thompson* a visit.

The exterior of the home seemed to be in need of some serious repairs. The grass also was very tall and needed cutting. In fact, we doubted that anyone lived at the residence. We peeked through the windows and saw that the living room furniture was in disarray with many items, such as a sofa and TV, missing.

We heard the sound of dogs barking when we knocked on the door, so we knew that someone must be residing at the home. Roy Thompson appeared at the door and looked suspicious and concerned.

“May I help you?”

I asked him if he had heard of a professional guardian by the name of Rebecca Fierle and I explained that I was the victim of that same guardian and I asked him if he would like to speak with me. Roy’s attitude and demeanor immediately improved and he graciously invited us into his home.

We sat down with him at the dining room table and he explained to us how Rebecca Fierle had taken control of his mother when she had gone to the hospital. Roy had lived with his mother for many years and so he assumed that he would become her guardian if one were ever needed. Fierle had written in the court records that Roy did not wish to become the guardian.

Roy had no money for attorneys’ fees to fight this inaccurate scenario.

After taking control of Bobbie Thompson through an emergency guardianship, Rebecca Fierle next set off to remove Roy from the home.

Although Roy is handicapped and had been applying for social security disability, Fierle had all utilities turned off at the home, leaving Roy and his dogs to live in the dark without a working refrigerator and no water or air conditioning. Lucky for Roy, he had a girlfriend who paid to have the utilities turned back on. Fierle had been moving furniture and items out of the house but had told Roy that if there was anything he wanted that had belonged to his mother, he could go ahead and keep it, but she had also provided him with an eviction notice. So far, Roy had been ignoring the eviction notice. His girlfriend stated that Roy could move into her condominium with her, but the condo association does not allow for pets and Roy was very concerned about and attached to the dogs that he loves and wanted to keep.

It was obvious that Roy was in a very dangerous situation and I warned him. “You could be next. I envision that if you don’t leave this house,

Rebecca Fierle is simply going to take an emergency temporary guardianship out on you and then she’ll come here with the deputy sheriffs and have you removed to a nursing home, especially since you’ve been applying for social security disability.

This triggered an alarm in Roy and he said, “Funny you should mention that. A package came in the mail for me just the other day. And when I opened it, it was these purple pills that are for depression. They arrived in my name. I’ve never ordered such pills and they are a prescription drug.”

David and I had been suspecting for several weeks that victims are overmedicated, such as my mother and Elizabeth Faye Arnold, and that it might have to do with Rebecca Fierle, who is married to a medical doctor.

“And have you been taking these pills?”

“Yes, I’ve taken some of these, since I really am depressed,” he stated.
“But they make me feel dizzy and disoriented.”

David spoke up. “This might be why the mysterious pills showed up in your mail box. If you are removed from this home and tested for mental capacity during the time you are under an emergency temporary guardianship, these pills would assist in having Rebecca Fierle’s doctors assess you and declared mentally incompetent. I think you should stop taking those pills.”

By now, we truly had Roy’s attention. “I think we should call my girlfriend on my cell phone. I have very little minutes left this month, but this is worth the call.” He dialed Mary Ann’s number. “Honey, could you come over here? Well, there’s these people here and I want you to meet them.” She sounded reluctant to come. “They know Rebecca Fierle.”

The girlfriend changed her tune. “I’ll be right over.”

Many Ann arrived. “So, what you’re telling me is that Roy might be in danger of losing his civil rights if he remains in this house?”

“It sounds like a real possibility,” we stated. We told her and Roy of other similar cases, especially the story of the Arnolds.

“Honey, I really think you should move in with me.”

“Does Rebecca Fierle know your address?

“No. She doesn’t even know that Roy has a girlfriend.”

“Good. I think you should keep it that way.”

“Most definitely.”

“But what about my dogs!?” Roy asked in a distressed tone.

I think you might have to select between your dogs and your freedom,”

Mary Ann stated. Roy’s eyes became filled with tears.

“But I don’t want to lose this house! Once I get onto disability, I will have enough money to make the mortgage payments. I told this to Rebecca Fierle. But she said she doesn’t care and that I have to get out. Maybe I can just wait it out just a little longer 'til I start getting my cheques.”

Roy also told us that one of Rebecca Fierle’s employees had called him one day and wanted to know when he expected to receive his first disability cheque.

***********************************

Back at the courthouse, we examined Bobbie Thompson’s file for a second time. We discovered that rather than make the mortgage payments on Thompson’s house, Rebecca Fierle had allowed the house to go into foreclosure. It turns out that a process server had attempted to find Ms.

“Fierle” and had gone to her residence that she had listed—sworn to as correct--on Bobbie Thompson’s emergency temporary guardianship—under penalty of perjury.

However, David and I already knew from the docier that had been provided to us by Suzanne McCormack that this was not Rebecca “Fierle’s”

Real address. In fact, Rebecca “Fierle” had sold her residence of 13037 S.
HIGHWAY 475, OCALA, FLORIDA 34480 almost a year before when she swore, under penalties of perjury on Bobbie Thompson’s emergency guardianship application, that this was her current address.

In reality, Rebecca “Fierle”, who signs property documents when she buys and sells properties, under sworn affidavit as Rebecca “Santoian,” was now living at 9384 S. MAGNOLIA AVENUE IN OCALA, FLORIDA but time and time again, in the court records we were viewing, Rebecca “Fierle”
was consistently stating in her petitions, under penalty of perjury, that her legal address and residence was 13037 S. HIGHWAY 475, OCALA, FLORIDA 34480—the place that she and her second husband, Dr. Edward Santonian, had already sold nearly a year before.

We now understood the benefit to Rebecca Fierle of using an alias and an incorrect address—under penalties of perjury—on her guardianship applications. The process server noted that he had been unable to located or serve Rebecca Fierle. He noted that the new residents of 13037 S. Highway 475, Ocala, Florida did not include a Rebecca Fierle and the new residents stated they had no idea where she might be. They stated that Dr. Edward Santoian might know where Rebecca Fierle might be.

The process server next knocked on the door of 9384 S. MAGNOLIA AVENUE IN OCALA, FLORIDA but was told by Dr. Edward Santonian that he didn’t really know Rebecca Fierle and had not seen her in several months.**

Therefore, Thompson’s house was able to be foreclosed upon without Rebecca Fierle, as the guardian of Bobbie Thompson, being sued for the balance of the mortgage payments.

***************************************

We returned to Roy Thompson’s residence to let know what we had found in the court records and to provide him copies. But this time, the house truly was vacant and the cell phone numbers that Roy had given us for himself and his girlfriend were not longer working.

Roy had selected freedom—at least for the moment, he was “safe.”

*****************************************

*Not his real name.
**Court records confirm that Rebecca “Fierle” is legally married to
Dr. Edward Santonian, a cardiologist. “Fierle” is actually the last name of
Rebecca “Fierle’s” first husband, Jeff Fierle, whom she filed bankruptcy with and also experienced a home foreclosure with back in 1997. “Fierle” therefore goes by three last names: When she buys and sells properties in Marion County, she signs the deeds as Rebecca Santonian, under notarization; when she applies for guardianships, she states she is Rebecca “Fierle,” under notarization and penalties of perjury, and when she opens guardianship bank accounts to“benefit the ‘wards,’” she uses her Florida driver’s license,which states that her legal name is Rebecca Fierle-Santonian.

*Note: Dr. Angela V. Woodhull, a licensed private investigator, spent more than two and a half years investigating court records in Seminole and Orange Counties, Florida and interviewing family members and victims in order to compose this story. All court records that verify the contents of this article were submitted as attachments to the editor of the F.B.I. journal as verification of accuracy. Woodhull can be reached at (352) 327-3665 or(352) 682-9033.

We Will Not Forget What We Witnessed: Elizabeth Faye Arnold and William Harold Arnold (Part 3-B)

-by-Angela V. Woodhull, Ph.D. © AV Woodhull, 2011

In Part “A” of Elizabeth Faye Arnold, I ended the factual story by posing a question: “What would a person be charged with for running a red light and hitting someone on a motorcycle who later dies?”

I have now called a few police departments and posed this as a hypothetical question to them. “It depends on the circumstances” was the
typical answer. “It could be anything from negligence to manslaughter.”

“Would the typical investigation by traffic homicide investigator be closed out completely within four hours?”
“Oh, no, ma’am” a Miami front desk officer stated. “To complete such an investigation would take at least a couple of months.”

*************************

On the surface, this factual story, so far, appears to be nothing more than an “unfortunate situation.” It’s early on a Sunday morning. William Harold

Arnold is off on his motorcycle, probably on his way to his church where he plays the piano. He’s sitting on his motorcycle at a large intersection in Orlando and when the light turns green, he takes off, when suddenly, from out of nowhere, a woman in a Mustang hits him broadside. The motorcycle skids to a dirt area on the side of the road. Tina Holland, allegedly remorseful, apologizes to the police officer for being distracted from eating a doughnut. The officer closes out the investigation within four hours. No further investigation is ever conducted. Holland is issued a ticket for “running a red light” and given a court date.

*************************

A careful look at the file, however, reveals some curious information.

It turns out that William Harold Arnold, a 53-year-old spinster who has been living with Mama his entire life, is well hated by his neighbors. There are several police reports where he has called law enforcement on the neighbors, and they, in turn, have filed reports on him. This has been an ongoing battle for many years. One report states that the neighbor children were trespassing onto his property. Another report states that the neighbor children were spraying a chemical on his car. The officer notes that the kids were allegedly spraying only water onto his car.

There appears to be another file of an emergency guardianship proceeding commenced several years ago on Elizabeth Faye Arnold. Elizabeth, it turns out, has gone to the hospital emergency room on several occasions for swollen legs and feet—poor circulation.

While at the hospital, Rebecca Fierle steps in and becomes the emergency temporary guardian. She then places Mrs. Arnold in a nursing home.

The son, however—enraged-- somehow is able to bail Mom out of these emergency temporary guardianships and bring her back home. The emergency temporary guardianships expire. This back and forth scenario goes on for a number of years, about three years.

************************
A background check on Tina Holland reveals that Holland has actually been in jail on several occasions for DUI, possession of crack cocaine, and
prostitution. On the morning when she hits William Harold Arnold, however, she is merely eating a doughnut.

A background on her work history reveals that she used to own a dumpster business with her ex-husband—the type of business that professional guardian Rebecca Fierle would hire when she needs to clean out a house.

The records further show that Tina Holland’s court date was changed on several occasions over the next two years, with the officer always being the one who requests a change of the date.

When the hearing finally comes about, no one is present at the hearing except for the officer. The judge asks if the man hit on the motorcycle is all right and alive. The office responds to the judge that yes, indeed, William Harold Arnold is well and alive.
The judge therefore, based on the officer’s testimony, institutes a $400
fine on Tina Holland for running the red light, and also mandates that she attend traffic school.

The paperwork in the file shows that William Harold Arnold—who was actually deceased—was served a subpoena of notice of the traffic hearing.

The subpoena was, however, returned to the court, undelivered—the process server noting that the house appears to be vacant and that there is a “For Sale” sign on the residence.

A further investigation into the file shows that Rebecca Fierle entered a
death certificate into the record on the date that the accident occurred.

That death certificate is then voided out and a new death certificate was created for another date—approximately two months later—when William Harold Arnold actually dies. Furthermore, the court records show that Fierle placed William Harold Arnold on Medicaid, even though she sold his home for $190,000.00. Fierle then was appointed as personal representative and there are outstanding medical bills that come forward as claims against William Harold Arnold’s estate. However, Fierle’s attorney states that the claims are too old, were not timely filed, and therefore don’t have to be paid. Fierle places the “Notice to Creditors” in an obscure little newspaper rather than the Orlando Sentinel.
****************************
We visit Elizabeth Faye Arnold in person. She is alert and appears to be
as mentally competent as a person can be. She has been tucked away in a marginal nursing home for quite some time now and she, too, has been trying to figure out just exactly what happened to her. “They came with an ambulance to my home the day that my son was hit on his motorcycle—even though I had not called for an ambulance.” Elizabeth, removed from her home by ambulance, was rushed to the hospital and then placed in the nursing home, where she has remained ever since.

She removes the blanket that is covering her feet. “Look at my feet,” she says. Her feet are so red and so swollen that there are stretch marks on them. “I’ve met Rebecca Fierle,” she states, “and she does nothing for me and does not give me any answers. I’ve looked out the window and I see her nice Mercedes that she drives. Can you get me out of here? Can you find out what has happened to my possessions, my furniture, my photographs? I don’t have even one picture of my son.”

“Would you be guardian? I want you to be my guardian,” she whispers to me, squeezing my hand.

************************

After much searching, I finally track down the only two witnesses who were allegedly at the accident scene when Tina Holland was eating her doughnut. The one witness just happens to be a city council member and his wife is the secretary for the state attorney’s office in Orlando. He appears to be extremely defensive when I ask him to recall what he witnessed at the accident scene. “Whatever it states on the report. That’s all I remember,” he states. “Read the report.” And he walks off hurriedly.

The other witness is a real estate broker. He, too, appears to be extremely defensive when I knock on his door and attempt to interview him. “How did you find me!?” he inquires. “I don’t remember what I saw,” he states.

“It was too long ago.”

*************************

I interview more neighbors. It turns out that the neighbor across the street is also well connected to city officials. “They were real problem people,” he states. “The yard and the house were always a mess. Nobody liked them.”

*************************

I track down a former landlord of Tina Holland’s but I was never able to actually locate Tina Holland herself. The landlord tells me that everyone in the neighborhood was aware of the motorcycle accident. “She killed a man on a motorcycle and got away with murder,” he stated. “It was the talk of the neighborhood.” “She’s a real problem person—a drug addict. Didn’t pay her rent.”

***********************

Elizabeth Faye Arnold’s house has been repainted. The yard is tidy.

The neighbors no longer call the cops. Everything is now happy and tidy on Silver Drive.

*********************
Related Post: We Will Not Forget What We Witnessed: Elizabeth Faye Arnold and William Harold Arnold (Part 3-A)*Note: Dr. Angela V. Woodhull, a licensed private investigator, spent more than two and a half years investigating court records in Seminole and Orange Counties, Florida and interviewing family members and victims in order to compose this story. All court records that verify the contents of this article were submitted as attachments to the editor of the F.B.I. journal as verification of accuracy. Woodhull can be reached at (352) 327-3665 or (352) 682-9033.

We Will Not Forget What We Witnessed: Part 6 Wade McNalley and his Father, Bruce McNalley

-by-Angela V. Woodhull, Ph.D. (Part 6)

Wade McNalley and his Father, Bruce McNalley*

Back at the probate court files in Seminole County, things were heating up. Rebecca “Fierle’s” attorney in my mother’s case (Reverend Attorney Anthony Nardella) actually began billing my mother’s estate every time I was observed reading the court files. Imagine that.

“Phone call from probate clerk stating that Woodhull is reading the probate files once again.” Charge: $58.”

The next file I began assessing was yet another veteran. By now, we clearly understood that Rebecca “Fierle” had quite an appetite for veterans, since she automatically receives five per cent of their monthly income—no matter what is done or not done during the course of a month.

Another veteran, Carlisle Bosworth, we noticed that $250,000.00 of his assets had been spent in a very short period of time.

What about Bruce McNalley, a veteran? First of all, becoming increasingly savvy at ascertaining the court records more quickly, we noticed that “Fierle” had placed McNalley in a regular nursing home, rather than a veteran’s nursing home. There is a “reason” for this. A veteran’s nursing home is free. Therefore, there would be nothing to bill for. However, if “Fierle” places a veteran in a non-veteran’s nursing home, not only can she bill, but she can also GENEROUSLY bill. I called the nursing home where McNalley was staying and posed as a concerned daughter looking to place my father somewhere in an upscale nursing home. The administrator told me that a top-of-the-line private room, with all the bells and whistles, would cost about $6,000.00 per month.

And what was “Fierle” claiming to the court? “Fierle” was claiming that she was spending $12,000.00 a month in McNalley’s care. We wondered: Where is the other $6,000.00 per month going?

Because of the exorbitant and completely unnecessary spending (to reiterate, McNalley is a veteran—between his monthly income and the fact that he could be placed in a veteran’s nursing home for free, McNalley should have had enough money to sustain himself indefinitely), “Fierle” had initiated a lawsuit against Wade McNalley, Bruce’s son. Wade was facing

being evicted from his homesteaded residence if he could not find the money to purchase his father’s half of a trailer home. The title was “joint tenancy with right of survivorship” but that hadn’t stopped Rebecca “Fierle” for attempting to make Bruce’s son homeless. It was time to visit Wade McNalley.

************************

How can I describe Wade McNalley? The words that come to mind are “fun” “vivacious” “opinionated” “strong willed” “straight shooter.” Wade likes to drink beer, kick back, tell a few jokes, and use a lot of colorful language, especially when describing his feelings toward Rebecca “Fierle.”

After introducing ourselves at his door, one of his first comments were, “Oh, don’t even get me started talking about that c---.” We knew we were in for an interesting evening.
Wade and his father had lived together quite amiably on several occasions. He described Dad as a “skirt chaser” and somehow he ended up in an expensive retirement center due to that fact where he could flirt with all the gals. There were some health problems and soon he had been transferred to a nursing home. Wade had been out of town when he learned, upon his return, that a woman named “Rebecca Fierle” was now his father’s guardian.

“What the hell was that sh-- all about!? You tell me. It’s gotta be about his money! The b---- just wants his money. Don’t even get me started talking on that subject. Then she moves Dad so far away that I can’t even get to go see him. I’m on a very limited budget and I suffer from arthritis.

How the hell am I supposed to go clear across town to visit my dad?

As far as that lawsuit against me, she can go f--- herself! I have an attorney on it and she ain’t gonna get a g—d---m dime outta me!”

Wade told us how his attorney had been very good to him. Wade had recently been released from a hospital and his attorney had actually been paying for groceries and delivering them to Wade’s door. “What a fantastic guy! I couldn’t ask for better.”

Truthfully, an attorney going out of his way THAT much for a client just didn’t sound right. We wondered what it all meant. We were soon to find out. Wade was in the middle of suing someone, a personal injury case.

The “nice” attorney was actually pre-spending the few dollars that Wade would end up with from the settlement. In the end, there wasn’t much left for Wade out of the settlement money, and at that time, “Fierle” just happened to want to “settle out” with Wade. She offered to let him stay in his homesteaded home if he would simply turn over $10,000.00 to her—the same, exact amount of money Wade was about to get in a settlement. (How ‘bout that there.)

We asked Wade, after he cooked us supper and gave us a few beers, if he would like to drive to the neighboring town and see his father. “Would you like to go see your dad this evening?”

“Hell, yeah, I’d love to go see my father! I’m going to get him the hell out of there once I get my settlement money and then I’m going bring him back home. I’m going to be the guardian! I mean, what the hell, I am his son! Who ever heard of some f------ c--- stranger being my dad’s guardian?! Who ever instituted this crazy f---ed up shit?! I was doing one hellofa job taking care of my dad and I know he was happy here. He needs to come home. There’s nothing mentally wrong with him. You’ll see.”

The three of us piled into my van and Wade directed us to the nursing home. It was late at night and we found his father laying in bed, this tall man who seemed very similar natured to his son. The hugs and tears between these two macho men brought tears to the eyes of both David and me. We were ecstatic to have brought them together. “Honey, let’s videotape this because I see no mental incompetence whatsoever.”

Bruce seemed a little startled at first that were videotaping him. “Don’t worry about it, Dad. These are my new friends. They’re here to help you.

I wanna get you back home, Dad, and this can help.”

Bruce was then all right with the videotaping. He stated on many occasions that he would like to come home, that he wanted his son to definitely stay in the trailer home and he was definitely upset to learn that Rebecca Fierle was in the process of trying to make his son homeless.

“When you bail me out of here, we’re going to sue the hell out of her.

Oh, yeah, just you wait and see,” Bruce declared adamantly.

Staff workers, not used to seeing visitors in Bruce’s half of the room, kept peeking into the room. We would hide the phone camera every time a staff worker appeared.

Soon, it was time to leave. “I don’t see any mental incompetence with your dad,” David stated. “Neither do I.”

“See? I told you so!” Wade responded. “We got to get him the hell out of there. I’ve never seen him in such bad physical shape. This place is killing him. I want my dad home.”

************************

The following day, Rebecca “Fierle” found out that Wade had managed to go see his father.

Her response? She had Bruce Baker- acted—put into a straight jacket and medicated on psychotropic drugs. She then contacted her attorney and they wrote a Petition to the court asking the judge to NOT permit Wade McNalley to see his father any more. “Fierle” claimed that it upset the father so much to see his son—and whom he “didn’t really want to see” according to “Fierle”—that she had to Baker Act him. Little did “Fierle” know that we have video footage of the father that is so contrary to these claims that it is rather surrealistic to even fathom that such a statement would be written in the court records.

Lo and behold, at the court hearing, Judge John D. Galluzzo actually decided he would not go along with “Fierle’s” petition. He denied the motion and stated that Wade was free to see his father any time he wanted.

However, Galluzzo’s decision did not stop Rebecca “Fierle” from wielding her unlimited authority. Her response? She simply moved Bruce McNalley to yet ANOTHER nursing home so far away that Wade would have to spend the entire day taking a series of buses just to get to the new location.

***********************
Wade never saw his father alive ever again.
**********************

The next time we saw Wade, he told us hold his attorney was planning on having “Fierle” removed as the guardian—a motion serious enough, that if awarded, “Fierle” could lose her license as a professional guardian.

“I thought we were moving ahead. Next thing I know, I’m getting a call from one of ‘Fierle’s’ staff members. The b---- didn’t even have the nerve to call me herself. Fierle’s employee stated to me, ‘Where do you want us to drop off your father’s ashes?’”

“What!?! My father died?! When did my father die?”

“More than a month ago,” the staff member responded in a flat tone.

“You mean to tell me my father has been dead for more than a month and this is the first time you’re even telling me about it! What the f--- bull---sh-- is this!?”

This big, warm-hearted man, a true man’s man, stood there in front of us and wept. He broke down and he literally wept.

“Oh, there’s a special place in hell for people like Rebecca ‘Fierle,’ Wade stated. “I didn’t even get to say good-bye to my father. My dad had a pre-paid burial plot. He didn’t ever want to be cremated! What the f--- kind of sh—is that?!” “Oh, believe you me, there’s gonna be a payback time!”

Wade could not stop weeping.

************************

Shortly thereafter, Wade became seriously ill – to the point of almost dying. He was hospitalized on several occasions and needed extensive home health care. “I can’t focus on any of this Rebecca ‘Fierle’ bullsh—any further,” Wade told us. “It literally ruined my health. At least that b---- wasn’t able to get a f------ dime out of me. At least I have my home.”

************************

*Not their real names.

***********************

*Note: Dr. Angela V. Woodhull, a licensed private investigator, spent more than two and a half years investigating court records in Seminole and Orange Counties, Florida and interviewing family members and victims in order to compose this story. All court records that verify the contents of this article were submitted as attachments to the editor of the F.B.I. journal as verification of accuracy. Woodhull can be reached at (352) 327-3665 or

(352) 682-9033.

We Will Not Forget What We Witnessed Lawrence Long - Part Four

-by-Angela V. Woodhull, Ph.D.

The next victim that we visited was a man in his early sixties living in an assisted living facility, Lawrence Long. Long was in the process of being sued by professional guardian, Rebecca Fierle.
Long’s crime? Rebecca Fierle had lost in her bid to become Long’s guardian. She was now suing Long for the unwarranted attempt at becoming his guardian—and charging Long for the cost of her hiring an attorney and pursuing an involuntary guardianship against Long.

Her attorney, Karen Goldsmith, who had assisted Rebecca Fierle in her quest to become Long’s unnecessary and unwanted guardian, had been sending threatening letters to Long. Using their favorite judges in Seminole County, Rebecca Fierle and Karen Goldsmith had managed to obtain a court order demanding that Long pay thousands of dollars to Goldsmith for their foiled attempt at taking away Long’s civil rights. A judgment had already been entered against Long—even though he had never been successfully served or appeared in court.

It was time to meet Long and ask him how he had managed to become victimized by this precarious and frightening situation.

We found Long alive and well and living in an upscale assisted living facility. He had his own efficiency apartment and seemed quite happy and fine in his surroundings. He enjoys playing on the internet, driving his car, and going shopping. It turns out that Long had suffered a stroke, which is what put him on Fierle’s “radar” but had now fully recovered.

Fierle seems to enjoy taking involuntary guardianships against veterans she finds in hospitals--probably because she is guaranteed, by Florida law, five percent of their monthly income—for doing practically nothing. Although “five per cent” does not seem to be a lot, multiply five per cent times 20 veterans every month and you have a pretty nice income for very little work.

Long was aware that Rebecca Fierle had sued him for the money she had spent in her foiled attempt to become his guardian.

There were stacks of unopened mail from Fierle and her attorney, Goldsmith, piled up in a corner of his small living room. Long said he didn’t want to open the mail because it was “too stressful” to deal with and he didn’t really know what else he could do except ignore the situation.

How was Long lucky enough to get out the unwarranted guardianship? Luckily for Long, he had been seeing his own personal psychiatrist for most of his adult life and his personal psychiatrist went to bat for him and wrote a letter to the court stating that he would not go along with the assessment that Long needed to be placed into an involuntary guardianship and have all of his civil rights removed.

However, the unpaid bill “owed” to Rebecca Fierle is actually an omen of what is to come. Banking on the “fact” that Long is getting older, it’s just a matter of time. Fierle can always re-apply at a later date to become Long’s guardian, having her favorite doctors declare him incompetent. At that time, the unpaid money for the first foiled attempt will be reimbursed to her out Long’s lifetime savings, since there is already a recorded judgment against Long.

We enjoyed the afternoon visiting with Long, sharing a pizza with him. We opened, with Long, the stack of unopened threatening letters Fierle and Goldsmith had sent to him, which confirmed what I had already read in the court files.

“Let her go f--- herself,” Long said, looking over the bills from Fierle and Goldsmith that increased in price every month, due to interest. Fierle’s attorney was adding interest for each month that Long had ignored the bills.

Long showed us websites that he likes to visit. Between surfing the web and driving around in his car, he has managed, for the moment, to escape the realty that his freedom will be short lived.

Long seemed to realize that he is a “marked man.” Even though she didn’t win the first round, it’s just a matter of time before Rebecca Fierle steps back into Long’s life to become Long’s “guardian.”

“I try not to think about it,” Long said. Long has been “marked for destruction.”*
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“Marked for Destruction” is a term coined by John Caravella who became involved with yet another victim of a predatory guardianship. His book, Adele’s Diary, can be viewed at www.markedfordestruction.com

*Note: Dr. Angela V. Woodhull, a licensed private investigator, spent more than two and a half years investigating court records in Seminole and Orange Counties, Florida and interviewing family members and victims in order to compose this story. All court records that verify the contents of this article were submitted as attachments to the editor of the F.B.I. journal as verification of accuracy. Woodhull can be reached at (352) 327-3665 or

(352) 682-9033.

The Right Of Property...

The right of property is the guardian of every other right, and to deprive the people of this, is in fact to deprive them of their liberty."
- Arthur Lee