No Easter Basket for Terri Schiavo:
'Needle-mark' incident called 'stunt' to keep parents
from brain-disabled daughter

Extract from April 12, 2004 article
By Sarah Foster
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

No Easter Visit Allowed

It was a sad Easter for Robert and Mary Schindler and their daughter, Terri, the 40-year-old brain-disabled Florida woman whose estranged husband, Michael Schiavo, is trying to end her life by removing her feeding tube.

There was no basket of pretty things chosen and brought to her by her loving mother, no fluffy toy bunny, no sweet-smelling flowers, and no Holy Communion. Indeed, she's not allowed to see her parents or her priest at all.

Although she is not able to talk and no one knows how aware she is of her surroundings, Terri may well wonder and worry why two weeks ago her parents and siblings suddenly stopped coming to see her. She'll not understand that Schiavo, who as her legal guardian can exert absolute control over her, has forbidden her family from visiting even at Easter, pending the outcome of a police investigation over mysterious "needle marks" in her arm that is taking far longer than expected.

'Puncture Wounds'

Schiavo's ban on visitors was prompted, he said, by an alleged discovery of needle marks on Terri's arms in the late afternoon of Mar. 29, supposedly following a visit by the Schindlers. How this was accomplished when there was an armed guard at the door watching the Schindlers' every move is not addressed.

The allegations were made about the time the Schindlers and other parties received word of Greer's order denying the parents' motion to hold Michael Schiavo in contempt of court.

Upon learning of the incident from his client, attorney Felos hurriedly sent a statement to the media that came just short of charging the Schindlers with deliberately hurting their daughter.

"Schiavo Puncture Wounds Found After Parents' Visit," the headline on the press release screamed.  The text said that "immediately after" a 45-minute visit, "medical personnel" discovered "numerous wounds, five of them apparently caused by a hypodermic needle," on the incapacitated woman.

A purple needle cap was said to have been found "in Mrs. Schiavo's gown, confirming the belief that the puncture wounds were caused by a hypodermic needle." It was not known whether something was injected into Terri or "fluids were withdrawn from her."

Terri was whisked away in an ambulance to Morton Plant Hospital for toxicology testing and blood work.

"A forensics team has examined the crime scene, and the Clearwater Police are investigating," Felos's statement continued, and concluded with the announcement that "Mrs. Schiavo's husband and guardian has issued orders stopping all persons from visiting his wife until the police investigation is completed."

The media began contacting the Schindlers as soon as they received the press release. Robert – stunned by the news – told WTSP-Channel 10 he was disgusted by the innuendo. Yes, he had been at Park Side that afternoon, but there was nothing wrong with Terri when he left. No, he most certainly had not put a needle in her arm.

Terri's physician, Dr. Stanton Tripodis, summoned to her bedside Monday evening, told the St. Petersburg Times he was not "100 percent sure" the marks were caused by a needle.

"It could be that the skin was broken, maybe by someone's fingernail or jewelry," he said. "There was just an unusual appearance to these marks."

Clearwater Police spokesperson Wayne Shelor told WorldNetDaily the department had been contacted by "someone at the nursing home" [he could not recall by whom] about 6 p.m. Mar. 29, but as of Mar. 31 the investigators had found no evidence of a crime. He took apparent exception to certain phrases in the press release.

"We're conducting an inquiry," Shelor said. "I wouldn't call it a criminal investigation. We've been interviewing people and gathering information." He said that the Clearwater PD doesn't have a forensic team, and "since we haven't any defined crime yet, there's no crime scene either."

Terri was returned to the Park Place the day following her rush to Morton Plant. The toxicology tests came back negative. The media lost interest and remained silent. Meanwhile, Terri remains isolated and even more alone.

Criminal Charges Ahead?

Because the Schindlers could face criminal charges, George Tragos, a prominent criminal attorney, stepped into the fray as soon as he learned of the allegations and offered his services at no cost. He has directed the family and their spokesperson Pamela Hennessey not to discuss the case with the media, and fields press inquiries himself.

Tragos told WorldNetDaily there were two reasons he took on the case pro bono publico, that is, for the public good.

"The first is that I don't believe they should take the feeding tube out of Terri and starve her to death," he said. "The second reason is that I was outraged by the fact that someone issued a press release like that at the beginning of a possible criminal investigation."

Tragos said he had "no idea" how Terri received the marks, but then "that's not my job to find out." He pointedly remarked that he hadn't seen them, "because they don't let anybody in to look at them."

One thing he's sure of: The Schindlers weren't responsible. "The idea that her parents would stick needles in her is absurd," he declared. He views the entire action as a "publicity ploy."

Attorney Patricia Anderson, who represents the Schindlers in their effort to get Schiavo removed as guardian or at very least to obey the rules, also has serious doubts about the validity of the needle marks story.

"I don't really think she had marks on her arm," Anderson said bluntly. "I think the whole thing was a stunt, an excuse to cut off visitation. That's what it's all about. The second-day coverage on this story was, 'Well, maybe they're not puncture wounds, maybe they were caused by jewelry.'"

Anderson cited several inaccuracies in the press release -- such as the way Terri was supposedly dressed when her parents left.

"You know that business about finding a purple [hypodermic] cap in her gown?" she asked, "Well, she wasn't in a gown. When [the Schindlers] left, [Terri] was in street clothes. She was perfectly fine and sitting up in her chair. She was missing two teeth, but she was not disheveled; she was not in a hospital gown. This is a stunt."

Anderson's skepticism is shared by Terri's many supporters,  They are convinced that the crackdown on visitation is a ploy to detach the defenseless woman from her family, which in turn would cause her condition to deteriorate.

Background on Terri’s Living Arrangements

Terri Schiavo has been living in Woodside hospice for a number of years.  In mid-December, Woodside began a massive renovation project and its several hundred patients were placed in temporary quarters scattered throughout Pinellas County. Terri and 18 other patients were moved into rooms on the fourth floor of Park Place in Clearwater. Because Park Place is an assisted living facility and doesn't have a nursing staff, Woodside is providing the nurses and caregivers to look after the hospice patients.

The Schindlers claim that since the move, Terri's custodial care has deteriorated. Mary complains that her hair is washed infrequently and is allowed to become greasy. She is not being kept washed and clean. Recently she lost two teeth -- hardly a surprise since Schiavo has never allowed dental care and the teeth in question had become black before breaking off. The Schindlers are kept in the dark as to what became of the teeth. Did they fall out of her mouth or did Terri swallow them? No one will say.

Worse, Terri developed a bedsore on her buttocks, the first she'd ever had. The Schindlers do not know if it has healed or gotten worse. A bedsore, if left untreated and allowed to fester, can be fatal.

Then there was the mysterious bout of vomiting over Valentines Day weekend, Which prompted the Schindlers' attorney, Patricia Anderson, to file a "show cause" motion, demanding that Schiavo be held in contempt of court for non-compliance with a 1996 court order that mandates he keep them informed of changes in their daughter's medical condition -- something he has never done.

Nor does it seem he will ever have to. As WND Reported, on Monday, Mar. 29, following a Friday hearing and a weekend of mulling, Greer denied the Schindlers' motion and refused to hold Schiavo in contempt of the court order.

'Round-the-clock Armed Guard

Yet despite an observed deterioration in Terri's overall care, since October the hospice has been spending big bucks for a 24-hour armed guard in compliance with Schiavo's demands. The guard is composed of off-duty officers of the Clearwater Police Department, at the rate of $25 per hour per officer. Assuming only one guard is on duty during an eight-hour shift, the tab at Park Side comes to over $70,000. The total cost of police services since October has been estimated at over $125,000.

The Schindlers must sign in when they arrive and leave. All packages, handbags, backpacks are left with the guard. Cameras, cell phones, audio-recorders are strictly forbidden. Recently Mary was told she couldn't bring in a bottle of lotion to smooth on Terri's skin.

Terri is not allowed to be taken from her room, not even for a wheelchair ride down the corridor. She is forbidden contact with the other patients and may not attend the many social events Park Side offers. Schiavo says these measures are necessary to protect her privacy.

It was like this for her at Woodside. There were no outings, no visitors other than her family. It's a drab existence, except for the cheer her family is able to provide -- and now that's been cut off.

Terri's room at Park Place is particularly bleak. Her room at Woodside had more furnishings and was on the ground floor so there was something she could look at through the window. Here, apart from her bed and a special chair she can sit in, the room has no furniture. There are no pictures, no shelves for ornaments, not even chairs for visitors. When they visit, the Schindlers have to borrow a chair from the nursing station in the next room or perch on the edge of the bed.

It's not an easy setting to beautify, but despite drawbacks Mary has managed to bring in decorations that are changed with the seasons so her daughter will have a modicum of visual stimulation; something to look at besides bare walls.

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