Woman is questioned in Schiavo inquiry

Michael Schiavo's former girlfriend denies that he discussed how his wife would want to be cared for, lawyers say.

By CURTIS KRUEGER and JOUNICE NEALY

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 9, 2001

ST. PETE BEACH -- The woman whose remarks led a judge to resume the feeding of Terri Schiavo was questioned by attorneys for more than two hours Tuesday at a St. Pete Beach law firm.

Cyndi Shook was deposed by attorneys for Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, and by attorneys for her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

Attorneys for the Schindlers said Shook, Michael Schiavo's ex-girlfriend, emphatically denied ever hearing Michael Schiavo say anything about how Terri Schiavo might want to be cared for in the event of a coma.

Last month, the Schindlers learned that Michael Schiavo had a conversation with Shook in 1992 about the care of Terri Schiavo. The Schindlers then filed a petition asking a judge to resume feeding, which had been stopped days earlier.

The Schindlers claim that Michael Schiavo spoke specifically about whether his wife would want to be fed through a tube to stay alive.

They say Shook quoted Schiavo as saying, "How the hell should I know? She was 25 years old, and we did not talk about it."

James Eckert, attorney for the Schindlers, said that during Tuesday's deposition Shook denied that she ever heard Michael Schiavo say anything of that nature.

Shook previously has told the St. Petersburg Times that the Schindlers took her statements out of context if they are using them to try to keep Terri Schiavo alive.

She said the conversation was not about whether Terri Schiavo wanted to live the way she does now, but whether she would have wanted to stay at a nursing home or at her parents' house.

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Frank Quesada granted their request to resume feeding. That ruling is being appealed. During a television interview Tuesday on WTVT-Fox 13, Schiavo said he never recalled telling Shook that Terri Schiavo had ruined his life.

Schiavo, who has been engaged to another woman for five years, said he does not want to divorce Terri Schiavo because she's his wife. He said her parents wouldn't carry out her wishes, and that they would do anything just to keep her alive.

"This is about Terri," said Schiavo, who insisted he is not remaining in the marriage for a $700,000 inheritance. In 1990, Terri Schiavo collapsed at her St. Petersburg home from a lack of potassium that may have come from an eating disorder. Her heart stopped, and she was deprived of oxygen.

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