Trial Begins For Central Florida Couple Accused Of Swiping Home Out From Under Elderly Widow Who Unwittingly Signed Deed

In New Port Richey, Florida, The Suncoast News reports:

• Prosecutors call it a case of deceit, deception and greed. Defense attorneys say it's simply a case of an elderly woman who spent her way into financial ruin and had to be rescued. Who's right?

• A jury will answer that question during the trial of Joseph and Cynthia Clancy, who are accused of bilking Eloise Mudway, now 92, out of her house and assets between 2001 and 2005. Testimony began Tuesday and the trial is expected to last through Friday. The Clancys are charged with one count each of grand theft from a person over the age of 65 and face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.

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• Much of the state's case rests on the contention that the couple stole Mudway's 2,900-square-foot home out from under her by having her unknowingly sign a quit-claim deed in May 2004. The Clancys still live in the house [...], a home that Mudway and her husband purchased in 1980. The house is now listed in Cynthia Clancy's name. Mudway has lived with another local family since 2005.

For more, see Trial begins for Pasco couple accused of bilking woman.

See also:

• St. Petersburg Times: Trial of couple over woman's home under way,
• The Suncoast News: Trial continues for Pasco couple accused of bilking woman.