Part-Time Pundit

The following is a compilation of the cast of characters related to the Schiavo case.

(Note: This is a work in progress. Items will be added as more information is gathered. To assist with the case of Terri Schiavo and to help the Schindlers with their continuing efforts, information provided here may be freely used with the condition that Myopic Zeal is credited with the compilation. This is a compilation taken from public records, news accounts, and information provided from a variety of other sources. If you have additional, credible information regarding a cast of characters please communicate with us.)

Disclaimer: This compilation is not intended to imply anything. It is an effort to compile a cast of characters as might be related to the Terri Schiavo case and their relationships as well as events possibly related to the cast. While deemed to be reliable to the best of our knowledge, as with any legal proceeding all information below should be double checked and verified.

• Michael Schiavo, husband of Terri Schiavo and a Florida registered
  respiratory therapist and registerd nurse (RN license RN9164785) He was issued his nursing license January 18th, 2000 and its expiration is April 30, 2005 (link via Daily Inklings).

  • Living with another woman (Jodi Centonze) who is not his wife and
    has two children by this woman.
    
  • Hired by Sheriff Everett Rice to work in the Inmates
    Medical Care
    Division of the Pinellas County Jail around October 11th, 2004
    
  • Listed as a director, Jerger & Centonze Insurance Agency, Inc.,
    2002; an inactive corp.
    
  • Admitted under oath on two occasions that Terri Schiavo did not have
    bulimia according to Attorney Patricia Anderson.

• Jodi Centonze, girlfriend (sometimes called fiancee) of
  Michael Schiavo and mother of his two children.
  
  
  
  • Owns the address which is registered as the address of Jerger &
    Centonze Insurance Agency, Inc.
    
  • Mother is Eleanor Centonze.
  
  
• Eleanor Centonze, mother of Michael Schiavo’s girlfriend.
  
  
  • Employed under Rice in the civil division of the Pinellas
    County Sheriff’s
    Dept. from 1979 until 1999.
    
  • Died in 2004

• John Centonze, brother of Michael Schiavo’s girlfriend.
  
  
  
  • He has done some media announcements about Terri’s condition for
    Michael Schiavo.
  
  
• Trudy Capone, former girlfriend of Michael Schiavo
  although claims they were not romantically involved.
  

  • Indicates Michael had no idea what Terri wanted regarding a situation of
    incapacity.
    
  • Her affidavit is found here and is very compelling.
  
  
• Cindy Shook Brashers, former girlfriend of Michael
  Schiavo.
  
  
  
  • Referenced in Trudy Capone’s affidavit.
    
  • Indicated Michael Schiavo said he had no idea what Terri would have wanted if in an
    incapacitated condition.
    
  • Indicated she was very afraid of Michael Schiavo.
    
  • The key portion of her deposition is here.

• George J. Felos, lawyer, hired by Michael Schiavo to be
  his attorney in mid-1997.
  
  
  
  • Felos & Felos, 595 Main St., Dunedin, FL 34698. Fax (727) 736-1402
    
  • Felos is a euthanasia advocate and prominent right-to-die attorney.
    
  • Past Chairman of Board of Directors for The Hospice of the
    Florida
    Suncoast.
    
  • Held board position from at least Feb. 13, 1997 to roughtly April 26, 2001.
    
  • Founding member of the National Legal Advisors
    Committee on Choice
    in Dying.
    
  • Graduated from BU School of Law
    
  • Author, “Litigation as Spiritual Practice” (Blue
    Dolphin
    Publishing, 2002) and creator of the Continuing Education Course
    (and article by the same name) called Meditation for Lawyers.
    
  • Admitted on Fox television’s Fox & Friends, April 1, 2005, that he
    has addressed the Hemlock Society, renamed the Choice in Dying Society, a
    pro-euthanasia group.

• Jon R. Thogmartin, M.D. District Chief Medical Examiner,
  Pinellas County, FL
  
  
  
  • According to the Medical Examiner’s Office, “The mission of the Medical
    Examiner’s office is to fulfill the needs outlined in F.S. 406, to be of
    service to families of the deceased, and local government agencies. In
    short, our mission is to determine the cause and manner of death under
    certain circumstances. This mission requires the utmost objectivity
    irrespective of personal beliefs or emotional attachment to the
    circumstances of any particular case.”
    
  • Started the job in 2000.
    
  • “His major fields of interest are wound ballistics, firearms, infant
    deaths, child abuse, asphyxia, and forensic toxicology. ”
    
  • “Thogmartin has also done his share of teaching. In Texas, beginning in
    1984, he was a teaching assistant at Southern Methodist in the Department of
    Chemistry, and at the University of Health Science Center at San Antonio in
    the Departments of Cellular and Structural Biology and Pathology. More
    recently, in Miami, at the Dade County Medical Examiner Office and IACP
    Seminar, he taught a course on Strangulation and Other Compressions. “
    
  • Support Staff:
    Noel Palma, M.D., Deputy Chief Medical
    Examiner
    Susan Ignacio, M.D., Associate Medical Examiner
    Chris Wilson,
    M.D., Associate Medical Examiner
    Daniel Schultz, M.D., Associate Medical
    Examiner
    William A. Pellan, Director of Investigations
    Reta Newman,
    M.A., Director of PCFL

• Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN senior medical correspondent.
  
  
  
  • Interviewed on March 29 and March 30, 2005 on Aaron Brown and Larry
    King. Was asked to comment on the brain scans of Terri Schiavo which they
    showed next to a scan of a normal brain. Inspite of leading questions, Gupta
    reiterated several times and made a point of emphasizing that no definitive
    state can be determined from an autopsy of the brain. Gupta stated several
    times that he had seen cases where the brain scan looked similar to Terri’s
    and the person was very functional. He had seen other scans that looked
    almost normal and the patient was without any function.
  
  
• The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, Inc, 300 E.
  Bay Drive, Largo, FL 33770.
  
  
  
  • Assets approximately $25.5 million, revenues approx. $8 million,
    expenses approx. $6 million.
    
  • Files as a 501(c)(03) tax exempt organization.
    
  • Website: www.thehospice.org (based on the treatment Terri Schiavo has
    received under the care of this hospice organization, caution and reasonable
    skepticism are advised when reading this site.)
    
  • Operates Woodside Hospice where Terri Schiavo was moved by Michael Schiavo and George Felos without
    authorization nor proper certification as to terminal illness.
    
  • According to the Hospice:
    “Woodside, a community-supported hospice
    house, provides around-the-clock care in a home-like setting for patients
    who are unable to remain in other living arrangements. Hospice Villas
    Woodside permit patients and families independent living with professional
    help close at hand.”
    
  • Re: nursing homes
    “The Hospice works in partnership with local
    nursing homes to meet the needs of residents nearing the end of life.”
    
  • Subject of two lawsuits regarding breach of confidentiality with
    medical records by its for-profit subsidiary, Suncoast Solutions in 2002-03.
    

• Mary Labyak, Executive Director and President, The Hospice of
  the
  Florida Suncoast which oversees Woodside Hospice.
  
  
  
  • Current board member of the Hospice of the Florida Suncoast.
    
  • Board member of Partnership for Caring (a direct offspring of
    the
    Euthanasia Society of America).
    
  • Board member of National Hospice Foundation
    
  • National Director and Treasurer of National Hospice
    and Palliative
    Care Organization (NHPCO)

• Dr. Ronald Cranford, M.D. is the neurologist hired by Michael Schiavo.
  
  
  
  • Cranford is a renowned euthanasia advocate referring to
    himself as “Dr.
    Humane Death.”
    
  • Authored a section in “Intended Death: The Ethics of Assisted
    Suicide
    and Euthanasia”. His section addresses the issue of “the
    physician’s role
    in killing and the intentional withdrawal of
    treatment.” (WND article)
    
  • Cranford examined Terri Schiavo one time for 45 minutes. It was his
    testimony and medical opinion on which Judge Greer based his entire “finding
    of fact”.
    
  • Admitted on CNN, March 30, 2005 that he had misdiagnosed at least one
    case of “permanent vegetative state” (PVS) in the case of Sergeant Mack in
    1979 or 1980. He was never asked if there were others.
    
  • Cranford has been involved in numerous PVS cases as an advocate for
    death. Some of these are very suspect (In the case of Nancy Cruzan for
    example, she did not even require a feeding tube but Cranford said she
    should be starved insisting that food and water were considered medical
    treatment.) Cranford is hardly an objective medical consultant and is used
    frequently as a pro-death advocate. You can find it all here along with some doctors who have called the
    medical behavior in this case “criminal”.

• Dr. Peter D. Bambakidis, M.D., Neurosurgeon, Cleveland,
  Ohio
  
  
  
  • Hired by Michael Schiavo team to evaluate Terri Schiavo and her records.

  • Admitted under oath before Judge Greer that Terri Schiavo did not have a
    heart attack. That testimony is found here.
  
  
• Gus Michael Bilirakis, Florida State Representative, 1998-2000 and
  2001-2003.
  

  • Board member of The Hospice of the Florida
    Suncoast.
    
  • Co-sponsor of Florida Bill HB 2131 with addition to
    Section
    765.101 ( beginning on line 28 of page 14 of the linked pdf file)

  • Note: Section 765.101 of this bill added the following language, “(10)
    ‘Life-prolonging procedure’ means any medical procedure, treatment, or
    intervention, including artificially provided sustenance and hydration,
    (meaning food and water…ed.) which sustains, restores, or supplants
    a spontaneous vital function.” (12) “Persistent vegetative state” means a
    permanent and irreversible condition of unconsciousness in which there
    is:
    (a) The absence of voluntary action or cognitive behavior of any
    kind.
    (b) An inability to communicate or interact purposefully with the
    environment.
    
  • Member of Elder Care and Long Term Care committee
    in House, the
    committee that introduced HB 2131.
    
  • Was a campaign contributor to Judge George Greer.

  
  
• Barbara Sheen Todd, Pinellas County commissioner during
  time Judge
  George Greer was a commissioner in Pinellas County.
  
  
  
  • Board member of The Hospice of the Florida
    Suncoast.
  
  
• Judge John C. Lenderman, Florida Circuit Court
  Judge. Pinellas
  County Judicial Bldg., St. Petersburg, Fl
  33701
  

  • Brother of Martha Lenderman
    
  • Appointed judge by Governor in 1992, reelected unopposed to
    present.
    
  • Hospice of the Florida Suncoast Advisory Board member, 2000
    
  • One of four family certified judges in Florida.
    
  • Outstanding Service Award in Educating the Public and Restoring Public Trust and Confidence in the legal
    System, Florida Bar, 2002.
    
  • Jurist of the Year, 1997, awarded by the American Academy of MatrimonialFlorida Chapter
  
  
• Martha Lenderman, Board member of the Hospice of the
  Florida
  Suncoast since 1996.
  

  • Past chairman of the board of the Hospice.
    
  • Board of directors of the U. of South Florida Collaborative
    for
    Children, Families, and Communities.
    
  • Principal, Lenderman & Associates.
    
  • Lost in a bid for State Representative (Dem.) in 1998.
    
  • Former state child welfare administrator.
    
  • Board member, 2005, Area Agency on Aging, Pasco &
    Pinellas
    counties, Pres. 2003.
    
  • Consultant to the Dept. of Children and Family Services (DCFS)
    at
    least during 2001.
    
  • Dept. of Health & Rehabilitative Services (HRS)
    program
    supervisor, at least during 1989.
    
  • Was called to testify as a health and human services consultant
    by
    the attorney general’s office in 2005 in Holli Bodner hearing
    on
    suspension of Bodner’s psychiatrist license. Lenderman testified
    on
    behalf of Bodner.
    
  • Lenderman & Associates provided services to Pinellas
    County
    commissioners regarding Mental Health and Substance Abuse funding
    in
    1999 and 2000
    
  • Email address: lendmar@gte.net

• Jonathan Alpert, federal attorney
  
  
  
  • Suing the Hospice of Florida Suncoast for patient
    brokering.
    
  • US Dept. of HHS is currently trying to collect $14.8 million from
    Suncoast Hospice owed to HHS since 1997.
  
  
• Carla Sauer Iyer, R.N. employed at Palm Gardens of
  Largo
  Convalescent Center from April of 1995 to July 1996 while Terri
  Schiavo was
  a patient there.
  

  • Duties included floor nurse supervisor.
    
  • Carla’s affidavit is found here, dismissed by Greer as “incredible, to say the least.”

• Carolyn Adams, known as “Andy” Adams, LPN at Palm Garden
  Convalescent Center.
  
  
  
  • Had disproportionate number of patients die on her shift according
    to
    affidavit of Carla Iyer.
    
  • Was very friendly with Michael Schiavo when working at Palm
    Garden.
    
  
  
• Heidi Law, Certified Nurse Assitant
  
  
  
  • Worked at Palm Garden of Largo Convalescent Center from March, 1997 to
    mid-summer 1997.
    
  • Took care of Terri Schiavo.
    
  • Testified orders for rehabilitation were given for Terri Schiavo but
    that Michael stopped them.
    
  • Her affidavit is
    here:
    http://www.terrisfight.net/documents/hlawaffidavit.htm

• C. Johnson, LPN at Sabal Gardens nursing home, Largo, FL.
  
  
  • Took care of Terri Schiavo.
    
  • Affidavit indicates Michael Schiavo went against doctor’s orders and
    refused to allow any rehabilitation for Terri.
    
  • Affidavit is found here: http://www.terrisfight.net/
  
  
• Palm Garden of Largo Convalescent Center, 10500 Starkey
  Rd., Largo, Florida 33777. (727) 397-8166
  

  • Terri Schiavo was a resident there until March 2000.
    
  • Part of a chain owned by Florida Convalescent Centers, Inc., 2033 Main
    St., Suite 300, Sarasota, FL 34237
  
  
• Everett Rice, former Pinellas County Sheriff, 1988-2004
  
  
  
  • Became Florida State Representative, District 54 in Nov. 2004
    
  • Endorsed Judge George Greer for reelection in campaign ads.
    
  • Former board member The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast
    
  • Hired Michael Schiavo while Schiavo’s guardianship proceedings were in
    the courtroom of his long time friend Judge George Greer.

• Judge George W. Greer, Sixth Circuit Court Judge for
  Pinellas
  County, elected unopposed in 1992.
  
  
  
  • Circuit Court, Pinellas County, Probate Division, 315 Court St., Room
    484, Clearwater, FL 33756 Fax (727) 464-5471
    
  • Legally blind.
    
  • Friend of Everett Rice, former sheriff of Pinellas County, FL
    
  • Former Commissioner of Pinellas County, 1984-1992
    
  • Became Terri Schiavo’s caretaker and fact finder under Florida
    law
    (meaning advocate and judge). This would appear to be a conflict.
    
  • Judge Greer’s bio is curiously missing from those listed on the sixth
    circuit website, www.jud6.org.
    
  • Repeatedly refused to consider documented evidence of physical abuse.
    

• Patricia Anderson, attorney for the Schindlers.
  
  
  
  • Filed affidavit saying that [Everett] Rice had told her that he and [Judge George] Greer
    had discussed the Schiavo case at a ball game the night
    previous .
    
  • Filed motion requesting Greer recuse himself.
    
  • When bone scans of Terri Schiavo appeared in 2002 (having been
    suppressed since 1991 when they were taken) Judge Greer prevented Anderson
    from investigating the implications of the scan, saying they were
    irrelevant. The bone scans indicated severe trauma that occured no more than
    18 months prior to the date of the scans. (See Dr. William Walker.)
    
  • Said on Sean Hannity interview, March 31, 2005 that EMT report on night
    of Terri Schiavo incident listed it as suspicious and on that basis the
    sheriff’s department was called to the scene by the EMT. No investigation
    ever occured. The person who wrote the report has left the area. Another EMT
    refuses to talk according to Anderson.
    
  • In same interview, Anderson said that the bone scans were requested
    after Terri continually expressed pain during attempts to give her physical
    therapy. Among the injuries discovered were a broken back near the neck,
    broken leg bones, broken ribs, and fractures.

• Pamela Campbell, attorney.
  
  
  
  • Represented the Schindlers pro bono (free) in 2000.
    
  • Was allegedly requested to take the Schindler’s case by the attorney who
    represented Michael Schiavo in the malpractice lawsuit (Woodworth) in 1998.
    
  • Has serious conflicts of interest, potential ethics violations, and her
    apparent incompetence in the case is highly suspect. Her “mistake” might
    well have sealed the fate of Terri Schiavo. Find it all here.
  
  
• Jackie Rhodes, close friend of Terri Schiavo.
  
  
  
  • Testified at trial on January 6, 2000
    
  • A portion of that testimony is found here.

• Dr. Victor Gambone, MD, CMD, Terri Schiavo’s attending
  physician
  from 1998-2003.
  
  
  
  • His name appeared on a paper stating Terri was PVS
    (permanent
    vegetative state) but it was never signed by him. This was
    apparently
    a fraudulent document.
    
  • During a 2002 medical evidentiary hearing, Dr. Victor
    Gambone
    testified that he certified Terri as terminally ill so that she
    could
    be placed in Woodside Hospice. When questioned under oath why, he
    said
    it was because Michael told him to do so.
    
  • journals.aol.com/justice1949/JUSTICEFORTERRISCHIAVO/entries/333
    
  • However, it states on the certificate that it is a
    verbal
    certification, no signature. This would explain comment above.
    Must
    be signed to be valid.
    
  • Testified before Judge Greer that Terri Schiavo was not PVS and
    was
    aware of her surroundings.
    
  • Greer had asked Gambone to do an evaluation, but rejected
    his
    findings.
    
  • Gambone reportedly worked for George Felos at Woodside Hospice.
    
  • Current president, Florida Medical Directors Association.

• Bernie McCabe, elected State Attorney for the Sixth
  Judicial
  District in 1992. Office in Clearwater, FL. Covers Pinellas
  County.
  
  
  
  • This is the same district as Judge Greer.
    
  • Responsibilities include investigating abuse charges.
    
  • Refused to investigate various potential felony charges
    against
    Michael Schiavo in 2003 under statute 825.103.
    
  • Has repeatedly refused to intervene in the allegations of the abuse of
    Terri Schiavo.
    
  • McCabe has allegedly been involved in numerous ‘refuse to investigate’
    cases. See Mel Sembler.
  
  
• Dr. Michael Baden, New York forensic pathologist.
  

  • Former chief medical examiner for the City of New York
    
  • Co-director of the Medicolegal Investigation Unit of the New
    York
    State Police
    
  • Reversed his view of Terri Schiavo’s condition after examining
    her
    bone scans. Those injuries could have happened, Baden continued,
    from
    “some kind of trauma. The trauma could be from an auto accident,
    the
    trauma could be from a fall, or the trauma could be from some kind
    of
    beating that she obtained from somebody somewhere. It’s something
    that
    should have been investigated in 1991 . . . and maybe [it was]
    by
    police at that time.” (Emphasis added). Source, The Village
    Voice,
    Nov. 14,
    2003
    http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0347,hentoff,48738,6.html
  
  
• Dr. William Campbell Walker, Doctor who did the original
  bone scan
  and the evaluation completed on Mar.5, 1991.
  

  • Walker wrote, “This patient has a history of trauma. The presumption is
    that the other areas of trauma also relate to previous trauma.”
    
  • Walker’s deposition is
    here…http://www.hospicepatients.org/dr-walker-t-schiavo-bone-scan-deposition.txt

  • Walker indicates in his deposition that trauma injuries had occurred.
    
  
  
• Dr. Joel S. Prawer, the doctor Michael Schiavo sued.
  
  
  
  • The doctor was exonerated of wrongdoing but settled at the insistence of
    his insurance company.
    
  • Dr. Prawer turned over all his records relating the case to the
    Department of Health. They reviewed his case and found him innocent of
    wrongdoing and malpractice. Subsequent to this finding all records relating
    to this case were destroyed by the Dept. of Health (DOH).
  
  
• Mitchell Turner, a Florida Dept. of Children and Families
  investigator.
  

  • Reported alleged felony abuse, neglect, and exploitation of Terri
    Schiavo. This report was the conclusion of a 60 Day investigation in Nov.
    and Dec. 2001.
    
  • The report was suppressed by the Department’s legal division.
  
  
• Dr. Stanton Tripodis, enlisted by Michael
  Schiavo to provide services for Terri.
  
  
  
  • Has five previous malpractice suits against
    him.
    Case no. 97007946C1 filed 11-25-97
    Case no. 94003739C1 filed
    6-27-94
    Case no. 95000873C1 filed 2-14-95
    Case no. 96001434C1 filed
    3-6-96
    Case no. 98002289C1 filed 4-7-98

• Jerger & Centonze Insurance Agency, Inc., 2807 Marrie
  Ct.,
  Clearwater, FL
  
  
  
  • Agency possibly purchased as part of The Jerger Co., Inc., Pinellas
    Park,
    FL by Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. for $40 million,
    1999.
    
  • Michael R. Schiavo listed as a director in 2002, with same address as
    above.
    
  • Corp. listed as inactive.
    
  • This address is listed as owned by Jodi A. Centonze in Pinellas County
    appraisers records.
    
  • Note: Richard M. Jerger, Jr., stockholder in Philadelphia Consolidated
    Holding Corp, sold 2902 shares of stock in July,2001 for $102,933… put this
    in the ‘for what it’s worth’ department.
  
  
• Senator Jim King, originally upheld the passage of “Terri’s Law.” (S 12
  E)
  

  • Board member of Woodside Hospice
    
  • Received campaign contributions from Richard M. Jerger, Jr., of Jerger
    & Centonze Insurance. (Mr. Jerger lived in a different district).
    
  • Called his support of Terri’s Law “The Terri Schiavo vote that I made
    was probably one of the worst votes that I’ve ever done”
  
  
• Bishop Robert N. Lynch, Terri’s Catholic bishop.
  
  
  
  • According to the Catholic Advocate and others, The legal counsel for both the St.
    Petersburg and Venice Diocese is DiVito and Higham. Allegedly,
    Joseph DiVito is a personal friend of Bishop Lynch. The law firm contributed
    $500 to the re-election campaign of Judge Greer.
    
  • Issued a statement criticized by other Catholic organizations.

UPDATE: If you haven’t seen Title of Liberty’s work in making a graphical representation of many of these connections, check it out.