Alleged Caregiver Takes Advantage of Elderly Man

Jewll Hall, an 87 year old Texas man, began asking around for a live-in female caretaker earlier this year. Marjorie Messer, a 58 year old woman from Houston, agreed to be Hall’s caretaker and moved in with him on February 19.

On March 21, Hall and Messer were married. Hall withdrew $16,836 from his personal bank account ten days after the marriage and deposited the funds into a joint account at Messer’s bank. Messer admitted Hall into a nursing home on April 11, and Hall disinherited his children in his will a week later, leaving everything to Messer. Hall also appointed Messer as his attorney-in-fact under a medical and financial power of attorney.

Adult Protective Services were alerted to suspicious activity at Hall’s home on April 16 after witnesses saw people hauling items out of Hall’s home. A Bexar County Probate Judge appointed a temporary guardian, and a psychiatrist examined Hall and discovered that he had been severely incapacitated for at least one year.

A trial will take place on November 29 on a motion by the guardian to annul Hall’s marriage to Messer. Messer has been charged with the third degree felony of “theft from elderly by deception in amount of $1,500 to $20,000.” Messer maintains that she and Hall are in love, but was unable to explain how most of Hall’s money ended up in her personal bank account.

See John MacCormack, Sudden Marriage Now Subject of Court Case, My SA, Nov. 9, 2011.

Special thanks to Barrett Shipp (attorney, San Antonio, TX) for bringing this article to my attention.