Thursday, October 22, 2009

Sheriff Closes Sale; Property Owner Incarcerated and Incapacitated

Out-of-town developers closed their deal on the former Walker properties on Highland Avenue Sept. 29.

However, no one from the family that owned portions of this property since 1947 and the entire tract since 2001 signed on the dotted lines that finalized this real estate transaction. Instead, Barbour County Sheriff LeRoy Upshaw, who was named the emergency guardian and special conservator for property owner Henry David Walker, Jr. on Sept. 28, closed the sale.

Barbour County Probate Court documents reveal that Walker, 37, was arrested Sept. 25 on failure to appear charges stemming from a speeding ticket and operating a vehicle without insurance citation.

Walker did not appear at the Eufaula emergency guardian and special conservator hearings or at the property closing where he cleared $178,007 from the $239,000 sale. Walker was not only incarcerated but was alleged in a local attorney’s petition for emergency guardian and special conservator to be incapacitated at the time of this transaction and required a guardian to determine the best method for his care and rehabilitation and a special conservator to bring the Eufaula real estate sale to fruition.

Barbour County Probate Judge Nancy Robertson granted Eufaula attorney Courtney Potthoff’s petition for an emergency guardian and special conservator for Walker and named Upshaw to those roles for a period of 15 days.

Full Article and Source:
Sheriff Closes Deerfield Sale: Highland Property Owner Incarcerated and Incapacitated

20 comments:

Louis said...

Wow! That was the quickest shafting I've ever heard of!

LoriView said...

And I thought Florida was bad.
This is the worst case of guardianship corruption I've seen yet.

StandUp said...

The residents of this town had better watch their backs!

Walker's 37 -- the rest of his life is destroyed over this greed.

Anonymous said...

I sure hope there is a public outcry over this, followed by a full investigation.

All because of a speeding ticket and operating a vechicle without insurance? Good heavens -- in this US of A?

And you can bet the $178K will be paid to the guardian, conservator, and all the attorneys. Walker has just lost everything he ever had.

Shame!

Anonymous said...

LEGALIZED THEFT!

Anonymous said...

The best place for an elderly person is the home they have been living in. The more I hear about the results of guardianships, the more I realize how sick and evil a good portion of society is, and its all about money.
Isolate, Medicate, take the Estate.

jerri said...

what is this??? this is amazing because it was reported in the newspaper that took mega courage to do the right thing outrageous that attorney Courtney Potthoff drafted and filed petition for emergency hearing for temporary guardianship for 15 days how is it that the Barbour County Sheriff LeRoy Upshaw got this gig? how is it that this petition was granted? abuse of power? colllusion? conspiracy? worse? what was Barbour County Probate Judge Nancy Robertson thinking when she declared Walker a ward of the state for 15 days? when she appointed LeRoy to take over his life and assets just in time to seal the land deal? is this pay to play? where is Henry David Walker Jr now? i want to know who else is involved physicians psychologists who did evaluations all of this curious activity under color of law!

Anonymous said...

The ward in this case is 37 years old not nearly elderly but still vulnerable.

Good question jerri:

Where is Henry David Walker, Jr. now that the sheriff sold his residence?

Is he homeless?

Does he have his money?

His personal property?

I am very concerned about Mr. Walker.

Someone in federal position must look into this matter power post haste.

Anonymous said...

Who is next?

Anonymous said...

15 DAYS? Then what?

Betty said...

Have Conahan and Ciavarella escaped Luzerne County and moved to Alabama? This is absolutely Outrageous!

Mike said...

Bet Mr. Walker is "happily" doped up on psychotropic drugs.

Watching said...

An emergency guardianship should be just that - and EMERGENCY.

What emergency was there Sheriff?

I mean besides the emergency that you wanted to close the deal.

This stinks to high heaven!

Sue said...

Just when you think you heard "it all" then we read the real news at NASGA blog about the suspicious activities in the sneak attack on: Henry David Walker, Jr.

I agree 100% with those who commented here, I have a long list of questions that need answering, now,including curiosity over the 15day emergency guardianship appointment - red flags waving folks!

This entire situation makes me wonder what else is going on in Barbour County?

wisernow said...

If this wasn't so sad and dangerous I would say it was a bad joke. How this insanity went on without someone stepping in to say no and stop this abuse is beyond my comprehension.

Questioning Practices said...

A local attorney's petition for emergency guardianship and conservator for the property?

And whom might that local attorney be and wouldn't it be something if he/she was linked in with the sheriff and/or the out-of-town developers???

Sue said...

Yes, QP, I think someone in authority needs to travel to Barbour County to connect the dots and more from local attorney and who retained him anyway??? to who is doing what and why.

Who knew what, when and what they did or didn't do about it.

This smells bad.

I wonder: where is Mr. Walker and is he okay? Does anybody know or care about this matter except NASGA?

Anonymous said...

This horrific and outrageous example of instant greed and corruption enunciates in strong terms the necessity for a national, uniform standard of guardianship laws. Clearly, each state is unable or unwilling to control this growing and lucrative industry of conspiring thieves. This story and blog needs to remain front-and-center for all national media to see.

helensniece said...

Where is: Henry David Walker Jr.?

jerri said...

yeah good question where is walker jr? does anyone know his whereabouts? is he a ward of the state under permanent guardianship? who was appointed his guardian? is he still locked up in jail? or is he isolated in some lock up unit in a hospital with approved visitor list? why do i have the horrible feeling walker jr is not a free man? isolate medicate take the estate have we heard this before?