Officers claimed John
Daniel Moore was so low that, in addition to other crimes, he took a
significant portion of the hundreds of thousands of dollars he had
bilked and gambled it at a Mississippi casino. However, those charges
were never proven.
By Ken Curtis
DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) -Four years ago, Dothan police methodically laid out how John Daniel Moore stole lots of money from a defenseless woman who, in her 80’s, suffered age-related issues.
Officers claimed Moore was so low that, in addition to other crimes, he took a significant portion of what he stole to a Mississippi casino where he gambled large sums.
Criminal investigators say they learned of the allegations after receiving a visit from Dr. Diane Klivington, the victim’s daughter.
She claimed that Moore had drained her bank accounts in addition to the money he stole from her mother, estimated in court documents at $404,000.
Her allegations may have been more than a woman protecting their loved one.
A few months before Diane Klivington went to police, she and Moore sparked a romantic relationship as Klivington’s mother, according to probate records, struggled to care for herself and make sound decisions.
By the following spring, the couple had married, but Klivington filed for divorce three weeks later. In addition to the financial allegations, she claimed that Moore had moved his lover into the couple’s home in Dothan’s lavish Bocage neighborhood.
Moore had a contrasting view of the couple’s troubled relationship, claiming in court filings his was the victim of Klivington who he claimed became violent, drank heavily, and used drugs.
Police investigated the criminal allegations for several months, and Houston County grand jurors after hearing evidence indicted Moore on 29 felony charges, most of them Financial Exploitation of the Elderly, involving charges that he victimized Dr. Klivington’s mother.
Police and prosecutors believed they had a strong case as evidence mounted, with records from Scarlet Pearl Casino in Biloxi bolstering their claims that Moore had lost $350,000 in a few months.
It’s not known how much Dr. Klivington knew about what was going on, and police never publicly named her an accomplice in the alleged thefts.
What is known is that court documents revealed that soon after she and Moore split, Klivington, the conservator of her ailing mother’s affairs, assured a probate judge that her mother had regained her competence. Dr. Klivington promised the court that her financial affairs were in perfect order, a court filing revealed. A judge removed the need for a conservator, allowing the elderly woman to handle her own affairs.
Prosecutors would obtain revised indictments against Moore on Identity Theft charges related to the same allegations but without Klivington’s and her mother’s cooperation, those grand jurors tossed the charges, leaving prosecutors with little with which to work.
“(We)” received information that an accounting of the estate had been made/finalized in 2022, after the allegations were made in 2021, which left us with no victim," Houston County District Attorney Russ Goodman told WTVY News4.
Moore maintained his innocence and based upon court filings, believed he may have been the victim of a bad romantic relationship with Dr. Klivington.
“My client is enormously grateful that the grand jury confirmed what my client always knew...that the cases were unsupportable, once all of the evidence was considered,” Dothan attorney John Byrd, Jr. reacted. “(Mr. Moore) now looks forward to living life, unburdened by this long-lasting and emotional matter.”
Full Article & Source:
Accused of stealing $400,000 from elderly woman he is now free of those charges
No comments:
Post a Comment