Court log: Banker's testimony details financial history in homicide case

Aug 19, 2008 (The York Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- PNC.C | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Aug. 19--Methodical testimony Monday covered financial standing and habits of a couple charged in the May 2004 death of an elderly woman, Bernadette "Bernice" Leiben.

The testimony of Robert Stover, of PNC Bank, for the prosecution also contradicted some statements William J. Donohue, 73, and Frances A. Donohue, 62, reportedly made to state police after Leiben's death.

Leiben, 87, died in a Fawn Township home while in the care of the Donohues. Leiben died from sepsis, a blood infection, stemming from internal and external infections that leaked toxins into her blood stream, according to court testimony.

The Donohues are charged with first- and third-degree murder, and criminal conspiracy to commit those acts in Leiben's death. York County Senior Prosecutor Timothy Barker contends the couple neglected Leiben, drained her bank account and liquidated her assets to fund their lives.

Defense attorney Rick Robinson says William Donohue had nothing to do with his mother's care and therefore is not responsible for her death. Frances Donohue's attorney, Thomas Kearney III, argues that Frances Donahue was depressed and overwhelmed and therefore incapable of taking care of herself or others.

Account closed: Frances Donohue obtained power of attorney March 13, 2002, to manage Leiben's finances, and that day, the Donohues removed Leiben from a nursing home in the Baltimore area, Barker said. The following day, Frances Donohue closed Leiben's $5,600 bank account, according to

Stover. The Donohues sat with defense attorneys during Stover's hours-long testimony about a checking account that was opened June 17, 2003, at what then was Mercantile Bank.

Social Security Administration checks in the amount of $1,059 payable to Leiben and sent in care of William Donohue were deposited monthly. Endorsement on the back of each check listed Bernadette Leiben and Frances Donohue "POA" (power of attorney), according to testimony and copies of checks projected onto a screen in Courtroom No. 7 at the York County Judicial Center.

The balance and debits, including withdrawals and checks written, during the first few months of the account remained between $2,000 to $3,000 deposited and $2,000 to $3,000 debited, with balances between about $350 and $1,600, according to testimony.

Deposits and payments: About $23,000 was deposited in December to the account. The money stemmed from sale of a Baltimore property whose deed bore the Donohues' names as well as Leiben's, Stover and Barker said.

More money stemming from property sales was deposited in January and February 2004. According to bank records, Frances Donohue signed and deposited all of the checks. She also signed all outgoing checks presented during the testimony. From January through May 20, 2004, when Leiben died, Frances Donohue wrote checks to area sawmills, for what appeared to be work at their farm on Mitchell Road, Stover testified.

Checks also paid veterinarians, utilities and dues at a dance studio along with payment to California-based Spalding Laboratories, which according to its Web site offers non-toxic fly control methods.

Testimony offered last week from Neal Haskell, entomologist from Indiana, and Saralee Funke, Allentown-based forensic pathologist, included analysis of maggots found in several ulcerated bedsores on Leiben's body. The maggots collected resulted from eggs laid in the wounds weeks earlier, Haskell said.

The Donohues talked with Pennsylvania State Police investigators in June 2004 for a follow-up interview pertaining to Leiben's death.

Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. George Cronin testified that the both William and Frances Donohue discussed Leiben's care and finances, and they told police Leiben's only source of income was monthly Social Security checks. Before the Donohues and Leiben moved to York County, they told him, the money was used to pay Leiben's insurance premium, Cronin said.

Admits negligence: Cronin said Frances Donohue told him Kaiser Permanente canceled Leiben's insurance in March 2002 and that she could not obtain that or other insurance in Pennsylvania several months after the cancellation. Cronin said Frances Donohue told him the Social Security checks were used exclusively for Leiben's care and for hygiene items.

Testimony last week from Allentown-based forensic pathologist Saralee Funke revealed that Leiben's body was dirty, that hygiene was poor. Cronin said Frances Donohue admitted to seeing maggots in an ulcerated wound on Leiben's right shoulder the night before she died and that she'd "swabbed" the wound with an antibacterial called Povidone.

The top layer of skin near and around the wound was eroded, according Funke's testimony. Funke stated that the skin had been exposed either to a chemical toxic to the skin or something that became toxic to the skin after the body was exposed for an extended time.

Cronin told jurors that Frances Donohue said she'd been overwhelmed, and said she'd neglected to bathe Leiben for about a week. Then he read aloud from his report a quote he attributed to Frances Donohue: "If there is such a thing as criminal neglect, I should pay the consequences."

The trial resumed at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

-- Reach Kathy Stevens at 505-5437 or kstevens@yorkdispatch.com.

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