Maurice Evans and Angela Evans
Tenth Judicial District Prosecutor Thomas Deen said he struggled to find a way to get evidence admitted against a couple suspected of scamming money from the late Clifton Bond.
But it wasn’t possible, Deen said.
Deen this week dropped charges against Maurice Everette Evans and Angela Rena Evans, Bond’s former caretakers.
The couple was arrested in late September 2013 for theft by deception, forgery and theft of property in connection with the alleged theft of more than $40,000 from the former municipal judge and city alderman. Less than five months later, Bond died.
Judge Clifton Bond
In an interview before his death, Bond told Seark Today the couple scammed him out of about $40,000. A video of that interview appears below this story.
Bond said the couple threatened to have him placed in a nursing home if he did not sign checks over to them. He said they also stole checks and forged his name to those checks.
For example, Maurice Evans charged Bond $3,000 to paint his house. However, there were several $3,000 checks written for painting the same house.
Bond said he also paid $20,000 for what Angela Evans told him was life-saving dental services. He said Angela Evans told him that she would die unless she received the dental work.
The couple had previously cared for Bond’s late wife Marjorie with no trouble whatsoever. “There was no sign of aggression, there was no sign of fraud and there was no sign of sham that might be practiced,” Bond said.
Knowing that he was a wealthy man and alone, Bond said the couple approached him about providing care-taking services, cooking, and maintaining his home and lawn.
“They said ‘We’re doing this not for particular compensation. We’re doing it because we like you. We’re doing this because we think you need to be protected,’” Bond said.
As an elderly person, Bond said he had reached a point in which he could no longer write a check so he would have Evans write the check and he would sign it. “That’s the way we operated until I figured out that he was using that money for something else,” Bond said. “He was getting money that he didn’t need, and didn’t deserve, and wasn’t supposed to get.”
Initially, the couple simply charged him too much for the services but it progressed to forgery, stealing and threatening, according to Bond.
When he protested the amount they were charging him, Bond said they threatened him.
“They’d say ‘If you want to be that way, we’ll just leave,’” Bond said. “Well, you don’t want them to leave because you’re dependent upon them. And they try to brow-beat you and threaten you. My fear is that I’ll be consigned to a rest home. They would say, ‘Now, if you don’t do what we tell you to do we’re going to put you in a nursing home.’”
Bond said Maurice Evans represented himself as a church-going man of high moral standards but he was everything but that.
“He attended every church meeting in town and he gave the appearance of absolute honesty and integrity and morality when he was exactly the opposite,” Bond said.
Deen said there was no way to get that evidence admitted without Bond’s testimony. “We struggled with how to get the evidence admitted but it’s not possible without Judge Bond’s testimony, given that their defense is consent,” Deen explained.
Everyone take a good look at these two. Don’t be their next victim. Too bad they didn’t have to pay for their crimes.
Why wasn’t Judge Bond deposed? Whose fault was that? A simple set of question and answers, given under oath, that preserves the testimony for trial in the event that something prevents one of the parties from testifying in person, such as death, as was the case here. A textbook example of why depositions are taken.
How ironic that a judge would fall victim to a routine, procedural blunder like this. Especially considering the Judge’s advanced age and failing health. This was a preventable, rookie mistake that rises to the level of incompetence/negligence. This needs to be looked into.
The ball was not only dropped, it was never picked up. The Judge deserved better.
Look up “deposition.” That is what this is all about.
Judge Bond was an elderly man in failing health whose testimony was critical to the Prosecutor’s case. In fact, it was the Prosecutor’s entire case. It would make it or break it.
After reading the definition of deposition, what do you, as a layperson, think the next step should be? How soon should it be taken?
If someone from the Prosecutor’s office had accompanied Seark Today to the Bond Interview and sworn the Judge in, the crucial deposition could have been taken in minutes. This deposition would have probably resulted in felony convictions and substantial jail time for these two predators.
Justice has not been served; Judge Bond does not rest in peace. As one of his last remaining friends, I would be remiss if I did not make an effort to bring a just end to this preventable tragedy.
It is so sad that these crooks will not get punished here on Earth for their crimes. But Judge Bond, rest assured that when they meet their maker, there will be justice.