Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 10/23/2008

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Hilary Moores - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Assistant District Attorney Christine M. Cook

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

FORMER ELDER CARE WORKER CONVICTED OF
STEALING $304,000 FROM CLIENT’S ESTATE

District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua announced that Marilyn Chandler Fenderson, age 55, of Santa Rosa was convicted of felony grand theft of $304,000.00 and burglary on Friday, October 10, 2008. The jury deliberated for just under one hour before returning a verdict of guilty on all counts. Ms. Fenderson faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

District Attorney Passalacqua said, “Our senior community is entitled to vigorous protection from those who attempt to take advantage of their generosity and trust. It is sad that because of this defendant’s greed, three wonderful organizations will not receive the funds that Ms. Majerus gifted to them in her will.”

The charges in this case arose out of an investigation which began when the attorney who was handling probate for the estate of Katherine Majerus, a recently-deceased 96-year-old woman, attempted to obtain estate bank statements from Ms. Majerus’ elder care worker, Ms. Fenderson. Ms. Fenderson refused to turn over pertinent bank account records after repeated requests by the law office. Approximately three months after the 96-year-old Ms. Majerus died, Ms. Fenderson, who had been assigned special power of attorney over some of the victim’s bank accounts in her capacity as an elder care worker, withdrew $304,000.00 from the estate accounts without notifying the bank of Ms. Majerus’ death. Ms. Fenderson then used over $180,000.00 of that money as a down payment on a home in Larksfield, California.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department Sergeant Mark Fuston headed up the investigation, which revealed that Ms. Majerus had prepared a will, leaving the bulk of the estate to Valley of the Moon Children’s Center, Forgotten Felines, and Guide Dogs for the Blind. Ms. Fenderson was not named at all in the will.

The victim, Katherine Majerus, was ninety six years old when she died on January 22, 2006. Her husband, Edward M. Majerus, died several years before she did. Ms. Majerus was raised as one of nine other children and lived and worked in San Francisco for most of her adult life, where she worked at Woolworth's for about fifteen years. When she retired, Ms. Majerus and her husband moved to the Santa Rosa area and purchased a home on Earle Street. After her husband died, and while Ms. Majerus was still living on Earle Street, she met the defendant, Marilyn Fenderson, who was hired to assist Ms. Majerus with her basic needs. Ms. Majerus eventually sold her Earle Street home and moved to Oakmont, where she lived until shortly before her death in January of 2006.

Although she did not have any children, Ms. Majerus loved animals and held a special place in her heart for her cats, in particular. Ms. Majerus' love for animals and empathy toward those in need was reflected in her will, wherein she instructed that virtually all of her assets be divided equally among three charity organizations: Valley of the Moon Children's Center, Forgotten Felines, and Guide Dogs for the Blind. Marilyn Fenderson's theft from Ms. Majerus' estate deprived each named charity of a gift which would have exceeded $100,000.00.

The defendant will be sentenced in Department One on December 18, 2008 at 9:00 a.m.

Deputy District Attorney Robin Hammond is the prosecutor assigned to the case.