In the book "Financial Abuse of the Elderly - A Detective's Case Files of Exploitation Crimes", author and police detective Joe Roubice describes:

Suspect Characteristics

Exploiters can be those who provide services to the elderly or not. Exploiters can be professionals who make a living out of it or they may be opportunists. They may know their victims intimately or may be complete strangers. They may be caretakers, financial advisors, or simply those who have access to an infirm elderly person and his/her assets. They could be family members or neighbors. They often appear to be upstanding citizens.

Kerry has operated as an "opportunist" in his exploitation of Elizabeth McGuinness. He was her nephew and he knew Liz intimately and had carefully cultivated her trust and dependency through many years. He eventually assumed the role of her caretaker and her financial advisor, and this gave Kerry access to Liz's assets.

The most common type of culprit is the "altruistic exploiter," a rationalizer and manipulator who plays the part of a do-gooder through the commission of the crime. Their most obvious trait is that they keep on taking and taking, though claiming to be giving, loving and sacrificing for the victim. They usually step into the victims life in some type of caretaker role. They insist that the victim's assets were "gifts," loans, or payment for services rendered. They isolate the victim while claiming that they are protecting him or her.

Kerry certainly fits the description of the "altruistic exploiter" who always regaled family members at seasonal gatherings with stories about the time, travel, money and effort he had invested in Liz's care. He was always "giving" and always "sacrificing" as he made repeated trips from Oregon to Florida, and neglected his own family and children in his quest to save Liz from her son, Charles. Kerry had assumed a definite "caretaker" role and although he never mentioned things like the $160,000 cash gift in 2006, he later described it as a "loan", and later as a "gift" when that "debt" was forgiven in her 2008 "Revocable Trust Agreement" - which also made him the Trustee and primary beneficiary of her estate. Kerry had to take Liz away from Florida and her son and his family, for her own "protection" and he effectively isolated Liz from her loved ones by moving her into his own home to "baby sit his kids".

Exploitation Vs. Fraud

A person can obtain a better perspective of this crime by looking at the correct definitions of fraud and exploitation taken from state law and the dictionary. ...Fraud is essentially based on deception; the false and deceptive statement of fact intended to induce another person to give up a valuable item he or she owns.

When the victim doesn't have the capacity to make financial decisions and the culprit takes advantage of this disability, this is in fact an exploitation crime.

Florida state law defines an exploitation victim as "a person 60 years of age or older who is suffering from the infirmities of aging as manifested by advanced age or organic brain damage, or other physical, mental, or emotional dysfunctioning, to the extent that the ability of the person to provide adequately for the person's own care or protection is impaired."

An exploitation crime occurs when someone takes advantage of the vulnerability or dependent condition of a disabled elderly person to deprive that person of their assets.

Kerry had done extremely well during the late 90's and the first half of this decade flipping houses, primarily in California. But the housing bubble burst in 2005 and by 2006 Kerry's real estate empire began to collapse. In 2007 he arranged for a $100,000 equity credit line from an Oregon bank, but in 2006 he convinced Liz to give him $160,000 to invest in a second home for himself in Salem.

Against the advice of her financial advisor at that time as well as Charles and his attorney - and suffering from Alzheimer's disease that diminished her capacity to make intelligent financial decisions - Elizabeth gave Kerry a "gift" of $160,000 in 2006, which Kerry then used to purchase another home in Salem titled to himself. Kerry deceived and defrauded Liz and failed to reveal his deteriorating financial situation, and with the help of Eden Rose Brown and P. Freeman Green, exploited Liz further by taking advantage of her diminished mental capacity and failing physical health to rewrite her will.

This constitutes both fraud and a crime of exploitation against Elizabeth McGuinness perpetrated by Kerry Burtis and Eden Rose Brown.

Public Perception

Because exploitation is misunderstood, those who witness it either do the wrong thing or nothing at all to prevent it. Witnesses often fail to act because they mistakenly believe the confused victims don't have capacity but must be treated as if they did.

This certainly describes the behavior and reactions of the other ten beneficiaries, and particularly, Kerry's brothers and sisters. Kerry's only mention of Liz's "Revised Trust Agreement" prior to her passing in 2009 was to tell us that Liz had originally wanted to rewrite her will to leave Charles and his family out completely and to give everything she had to Kerry. Kerry had insisted that Liz include Charles and other family members in her will.

Family members could see for themselves that Liz's physical and mental condition was rapidly deteriorating and Charles described in great detail the many ways in which his mother was demonstrating diminished capacity even three years before Kerry took her from Florida to his home in Oregon.

Nevertheless, Kerry's brothers and sisters wanted to avoid a confrontation with Kerry and certainly did not want to acknowledge that Liz was deteriorating or treat her as if she was.

States have many regulatory and criminal laws that are designed to protect the elderly population. For example, Florida law makes it a felony to abuse, neglect, or exploit an elderly or disabled person. Victim Characteristics

Exploitation victims who suffer short-term memory loss or other mental infirmities. and therefore lack the capacity to give consent, often live alone. They normally appear timid, trusting, anxious and are almost always unaware that they have been victimized. They often become embarrassed when confronted with the issue of their memory loss and try to hide it with excuses and rationalizations. When they are told they have been cheated, they do not want to prosecute and often feel as if they have done something wrong.

Liz was suffering from advancing Alzheimer's disease and was under the care of a doctor in Florida and taking prescription medications to treat it. Liz lived alone, and while Charles and his family were actively involved in her life and her care, Liz's short-term memory loss often prevented her remembering much about her daily life in Deland. Liz did appear timid, withdrawn, trusting and anxious and was completely unaware as to the way in which she was being exploited by Kerry.

Charles described many instances where Liz tried to hide her memory issues with excuses and rationalizations. Eden Rose Brown and P. Freeman Green disregarded the clear evidence of and testimony pertaining to Elizabeth McGuinness' diminished mental capacity and forged ahead with authoring a 100 page revised will naming Kerry Burtis as the trustee and handing over the majority of her property and assets to himself.

These are the perfect victims and easiest to exploit. Even if their victimization somehow is reported to the authorities, they will not complain should their case fall through the legal cracks. They're not capable of understanding so they cannot complain.

Liz was a perfect victim for an "altruistic exploiter" such as Kerry and an unethical law firm such as the one headed by Eden Rose Brown. Evidence of the fraud and exploitation crimes committed by Kerry did not even surface until after Liz's death in 2009. And Eden Rose Brown and Kerry Burtis secretly colluded to keep all of the details pertaining to the management of her estate an absolute secret.

Exploitation of the elderly is not just "fraud" nor is it the "neglected stepchild of domestic violence." It is another expression of the misunderstood dark side of human behavior, where one of us takes advantage of another's misfortune for personal gain.

This is the saddest aspect of this entire affair - that our brother would take advantage of another's misfortune for his own personal gain. And then to refuse to provide information to beneficiaries or to answer questions pertaining to the estate. It is a dark side to Kerry P. Burtis that no one wanted to believe was possible - that several family members still refuse to acknowledge or confront - and which can no longer be ignored or denied.