As the investigation continues into Mathew Rotell's death, family and lawyers contend for custody of Adam, 8.
By AMY ELLIS
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 24, 1999
LAND O'LAKES -- A day after Mathew Rotell was laid to rest, prosecutors resumed their inquiry into his death on Friday, while relatives and lawyers scrambled to prepare for a custody showdown next week for the boy's surviving brother, Adam.
For the second time in a week, Mathew's maternal grandparents, Gary and Kathleen McDuffie, met with prosecutors in Dade City to discuss what happened in the hours before Mathew's body was found in a van in the garage of his mother's central Pasco home on April 12.
Meanwhile, state authorities recommended that Adam, 8, be placed in the care of his paternal grandparents, Anthony and Juline Rotell, who plan to move from Pennsylvania to Lutz until the investigation into Mathew's death ends. Adam has been in foster care since his 6-year-old brother died.
Because Pasco sheriff's detectives have suggested that the McDuffies may have tried to obstruct the investigation, any visits between Adam and his maternal grandparents should be supervised, an attorney for the Department of Children and Families said in court papers.
"Our only concern is for the safety and welfare of the child," said Elaine Fulton-Jones, spokeswoman for the department. "We are going to err on the side of caution in this case."
Brett Rahall, an attorney for the McDuffies, said the couple has been treated unfairly. The McDuffies have said their daughter, Kristina Gaime, was attacked in the hours before Mathew's death, a claim investigators have dismissed.
Rahall contends that authorities never bothered to investigate the possibility of a home invasion.
Authorities have said they found no evidence that Gaime was attacked, nor did she report any problem when they arrived in response to a burglar alarm just 20 minutes before her son Mathew was found.
"Within hours of Mathew's death, they decided Kris (Gaime) was responsible and that my clients were trying to cover something up," Rahall said.
The McDuffies also were accused of tampering with evidence by shifting the position of Mathew's body in the van before authorities arrived, Rahall said.
"It never happened," he said. "They are drawing conclusions and trying to fit the facts to it."
A day after his family returned from a Caribbean cruise, Mathew's body was discovered by Kathleen McDuffie.
Pasco sheriff's officials have labeled the boy's death a homicide but have not revealed how he died. No suspects have been named, although a grand jury investigation is expected to begin May 7.
Friday, a flurry of motions was filed in court in Tampa, as a dozen attorneys representing Adam Rotell's mother, his two sets of grandparents and his father, Stephen Rotell, prepared for a custody hearing scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
Some 30 witnesses are expected to be called to testify, including psychologists, a surgeon, a neurologist and several of the Rotell children's pediatricians.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Vivian Maye is expected to rule on a number of issues related to the case in addition to who will be given custody of Adam.
Gaime's attorneys have asked that Adam be allowed to visit his mother at University Community Hospital, where she has been since Mathew was found dead. She was listed in fair condition Friday, a day after the funeral she did not attend.
In court, her physicians are expected to try to bolster the claim that an intruder may have beaten Gaime and killed Mathew.
Attorneys for Stephen Rotell, 37, are expected to call an expert on a rare mental disorder that leads parents to deliberately hurt or sicken their children to gain sympathy or attention.
Attorney Jim Kramer has said he believes Gaime may suffer from the disorder, Munchausen syndrome by proxy, demonstrated by a pattern of unfounded abuse allegations against Rotell since the couple divorced in 1993.
Catherine Catlin, an attorney for Gaime, has asked Maye to censure Kramer for the allegations, which she said were not brought out until after Mathew's death.
"If this was a legitimate concern, why is it not in the court file?" Catlin said. "Why did they not act on it?"
As for the custody dispute, Catlin said the state should restrict paternal and maternal grandparents alike. Keep Adam in shelter care, she suggested, rather than granting custody to either set of grandparents.
"We don't know what happened that night," Catlin said. "But if there is a legitimate concern for the child's safety, it should apply to both sides."
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