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Marriage annulled; would-be wife investigated
By ANITA KUMAR
© St. Petersburg Times,
A Pinellas judge granted the millionaire an annulment after determining that it was not in his best interests to be married to a former live-in aide whom family members accuse of trying to take hundreds of thousands of dollars from him. "I'm glad that was the result, but not that my poor grandfather had to go through that," said Doug Smith, his oldest grandson who went to court to stop Delores Ann Holton from spending the money. Holton, currently under investigation and accused of stealing from Smith, pleaded guilty in January of taking money from another elderly man she had cared for as a certified nursing assistant. Just last week, Holton was charged with violating the terms of her probation by moving out of Pinellas County and to Manatee County, where Smith's family and attorneys suspect she is caring for other elderly men. She was released from the Pinellas County Jail on Wednesday, awaiting a court date later this month. "She's a predator," said Pam Campbell, Doug Smith's attorney. "We want to make sure other people aren't taken advantage of." Smith, now 93, is living in an apartment in an assisted living facility in Dunedin, near the house the two used to share in Clearwater. A judge declared him incapacitated last year, stripping him of the right to travel, enter into contracts, give away property or money or marry without court approval. Even the annulment wasn't Smith's idea. "We're sure he's in a safe place now," Doug Smith said. "It's a tragedy what she did to my grandfather." Family members and attorneys say Smith doesn't speak of Holton and when he does, he thinks of her only as a caretaker, not a wife. Once, he said he didn't even know who she was. "I didn't get the impression he understands that he was married in the first place," said Michael Cahill, an attorney appointed by the court to speak to Smith as a neutral third party. Smith, who retired to Clearwater three decades ago after a career as an executive at Gulf Oil, and his late wife of 67 years, Augusta, hired Holton together. When Mrs. Smith, 90, died in December 1998, Holton stayed on to help with the cooking and cleaning. Smith and Holton were wed in a small outdoor ceremony on Clearwater Beach in January 2000 but didn't tell family members until later. Even though the marriage is over, the financial ramifications of the relationship live on. Smith's house has been foreclosed on. Bank of America has sued him. Money is missing. Alison Carpenter, Smith's court-appointed guardian, said she told Clearwater police in April that Holton took more than $1,000 in furniture -- including an entire bedroom set -- from the house before she and Smith moved out. Police have not charged her with anything in the Smith case, but Gary Potts, an assistant state attorney who specializes in cases involving the elderly, said his office is investigating. In January, Holton pleaded guilty to stealing $63,800 from Serge Guez, 72, of Clearwater, partly paralyzed by a stroke, who hired her to care for him. She was sentenced to five years' probation and agreed to pay full restitution, though a judge withheld a finding of guilt. But hours after her court hearing, she insisted that she was innocent and that prosecutors and the court were out to get her. She said she had not stolen a dime. "I didn't take the money," she said at the time. "The justice system didn't want to listen. I didn't do anything wrong. I just wanted to get it over with and done." Holton and her attorney, Jeff Brown, could not be reached for comment. - Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.
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