Schiavo cast suspicion on himself through a lengthy series of conflicting and problematic statements as to what happened the night Terri collapsed on Feb 25, 1990, and her alleged comments regarding her end-of-life wishes. He often changed his story about the manner in which the money from Terri’s guardianship account was spent, yet the media and the courts refused to thoroughly verify his claims. Statements on this page were derived from court documents, media interviews, and Schiavo’s book, “Terri: The Truth.” Most of the statements have links to court documents. Bolded statements were added for emphasis.

Statement: In an interview with Larry King on March 27, 2006, Michael Schiavo claimed that 98 percent of Terri’s guardianship funds went to Terri’s medical care. Schiavo said, “After all legal costs and medical costs were paid, $750,000 went into Terri’s trust fund. From there, for the last 15 years, that money has been used for Terri’s medical care…but I’d say 98 percent of that money went to Terri’s medical care.”

Fact: 98% of $750,000 would be $735,000 which is the amount, if we were to believe what Schiavo said, that went to Terri’s medical care. However, the petitions for payment for attorney fees that were approved by Judge George Greer tell a different story. More than 70 percent of the guardianship fund was used to pay Schiavo’s attorneys, George Felos and Deobrah A. Bushnell.

Partial summary of expenses paid from Terri’s $1.2 Million Dollar Medical Trust Fund as of 2002
NOTE: In his November 1993 petition, Schiavo stated that the 1993 guardianship asset balance was $761,507.50
Attorney George Felos	$397,249.99
Attorney Gwyneth Stanley	$10,668.05
Attorney Deborah A. Bushnell	$65,607.00
Attorney Steve Nilson	$7,404.95
Attorney Richard Pearse (GAL)	$4,511.95
Attorney Pacarek	$1,500.00
1st Union/South Trust Bank	$55,459.85
Michael Schiavo	$10,929.95
On 9/8/05, George Felos petitioned the guardianship for an additional $441,535.25, six months after Terri died.
Total	$553,331.74

Judge George Greer ordered the attorneys’ fees to be paid from Terri’s guardianship account, such as in this petition for payment – though the funds were expressly awarded to Terri for her medical care. Schiavo testified in the 1992 medical malpractice trial that he promised to use Terri’s trust fund for her lifelong medical care, rehabilitation and therapy. Instead, the money went to his attorneys with Judge Greer’s approval. Judge Greer allowed numerous miscellaneous expenses to be paid from Terri’s guardianship fund – a fund was that established only for Terri’s rehabilitation expenses and medical care.

He authorized Schiavo in a 2000 court order to hire a security guard for both Terri and himself asserting that “the costs associated with hiring security personnel as set forth herein shall be borne by the Guardianship of Theresa Schiavo.”

The St. Petersburg Times published a report on June 3, 2001 “Fund for Schiavo’s medical care dwindles.” The article details how the funds in Terri’s guardianship account were largely spent on legal fees in the effort to end her life. The lion’s share of the trust fund was awarded to George Felos, a lawyer specializing in euthanasia cases.

Judge Greer sealed all court petitions per George Felos’s request. However, public records show that as of 2003, Felos, along with Schiavo’s other attorneys, were paid close to $500,000 directly from Terri’s trust fund.

Additionally, on August 9, 2005, George Felos petitioned Terri’s guardianship for an additional $441,535.25. Felos’s legal fees total close to an astounding one million dollars! This directly contradicts Schiavo’s claims that a majority of the guardianship funds were used for Terri’s medical expenses.
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Statement: Michael claimed that his mother’s death on July 2, 1997 from cancer convinced him to remove Terri’s feeding tube.

Fact: Schiavo consulted attorney George Felos about removing Terri’s feeding tube long before the death of his mother. On May 6, 1997, Attorney Deborah Bushnell wrote this letter to Judge Mark Shames regarding how they would notify Terri’s parents about Schiavo’s decision to remove her feeding tube. The letter indicates that Schiavo decided to remove her feeding tube long before his mother’s death.

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Statement: Michael said that removing Terri’s source of nutrition was her wish. Terri allegedly told him that she would not want to be alive with a feeding tube. Michael often used the phrase “Terri’s wish” when discussing the removal of her feeding tube to the media. He waited seven years after he won the medical malpractice lawsuit to bring up “Terri’s wish.”

Fact: Michael’s former girlfriend, Trudy Capone, stated in a sworn affidavit that he often admitted that did not know what Terri wanted. “Michael had no idea what Terri’s wishes were. He just wanted her to die quickly to have the money.”
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Statement: Michael Schiavo repeatedly asserted that Terri’s collapse in 1990 was due to bulimia, an eating disorder, which caused her heart to stop beating.

Fact: The Pinellas County Medical Examiner, Jon Thogmartin, found that Terri did not suffer from bulimia (entire autopsy report). Thogmartin stated in a press conference, “Whatever caused that problem was not in her heart. It was an external problem that caused it.” Thogmartin found no evidence that an eating disorder caused Schiavo’s potassium levels to fall leading to her heart failure. He claimed that there are a number of explanations for the low potassium level found after the woman’s collapse.

Thogmartin asserted that Terri’s heart was so strong that doctors were able to get it working again after she spent more than an hour with no measurable blood pressure, which resulted in massive brain damage. Her heart was so strong that it kept beating for 13 days after her feeding tube was removed and she became severely dehydrated. The Medical Examiner labeled Terri Schiavo’s manner of death as “undetermined.”
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Statement: During an interview with Larry King (March 27, 2006), Michael Schiavo stated that Terri’s family, the Schindlers, was able to be with Terri alone after she died, but chose to spend only ten minutes with her. Schiavo said, “They spent probably only ten minutes with Terri after she died. She was by herself. They were by themselves. And they left the room. Nobody else was in the room except the Schindlers.”

Fact: Father Frank Pavone described in his article that there were at least three police officers in the room with him and the Schindlers after Terri died. Fr. Pavone could also attest that the Schindlers were ordered to leave the room after a short visit with their daughter. Father Pavone was told that he could not enter the room to give Terri her last rites, and had to offer her last rites standing in the hallway, just outside of her room.

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Statement: Judge George Greer’s decision to remove Terri’s feeding tube was largely based on Joan Schiavo’s [Michael's sister-in-law] testimony in the 2000 trial. Joan told the court that Terri allegedly confided to her about her end of life wishes, and that Terri allegedly told her that she would not want to be kept alive if she was hooked up to machines. Terri’s family disputes Joan Schiavo’s statement.

Fact: Schiavo wrote in his book regarding his concerns that Joan would testify in the 2000 trial, “Joan was another matter. I was a little concerned that Joan can be somewhat ditzy. Think Lucy Recardo, but a lot shorter, with brown hair. That’s Joan – and we were counting on her testimony.” (Terri: The Truth pg. 131)
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Statement: In a Dateline NBC interview with Matt Lauer (March 26, 2006), Schiavo said he intended to donate all the malpractice money in Terri’s medical trust to charity. He told Lauer, “We offered them three times in writing, in the media, that we would give every cent of that money to charity in Terri’s name. The Schindlers were the ones that refused that. They didn’t want it to happen.”

Fact: In October 1998, Schiavo’s attorney, George Felos, proposed in this letter that if Terri’s parents would agree to her death by dehydration/starvation, Schiavo would donate his inheritance to charity. The proposal came after a court-appointed Guardian Ad Litem cited Schiavo’s conflict of interest in this report since he stood to inherit the balance of Terri’s medical fund upon her death. This offer stated that “if the proposal is not fully accepted within 10 days, it shall automatically be withdrawn.” Terri’s parents immediately rejected the offer. For years, Schiavo has repeatedly told the media that he was willing to donate Terri’s trust fund without informing them about the proposal from George Felos.
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Statement: Both Schiavo and George Felos repeatedly told the media that removing Terri’s source of nutrition was “Terri’s wish” and and her constitutional right. During an interview on Nightline (March 15, 2005), George Felos stated that Terri “may be in a vegetative state, but her dignity requires that we honor her rights and that’s what this case is about now.”

Fact: This same attorney, at the expense of Terri’s medical fund, publicly compared Terri to a “house plant” and has used Terri’s case on national television to promote his New Age book, “Litigation as Spiritual Practice,” where he describes his ability to “soul speak” to dying hospice patients, and his psychic ability to control the movements of a flying airplane.

While Schiavo cried that Terri had a right to privacy, he spoke openly about Terri’s private life in an interview on Larry King Live:

Schiavo: “And to touch on the gynecological, the gynecologists that took care of her told me — and I’m only following what doctors tell me to do — because it’s so hard — and I’m sorry to be so explicit — to open her legs. She doesn’t open them like you and I would at a gynecological examine.

King: You to pry them apart?

Schiavo: Yes.

King: So it’s hard to do a gynecological exam?

Schiavo: Right. Right. So unless there’s blood, or if there’s foul smelling — I’m sorry to be so explicit, but that’s what it’s all about.

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