Archive Episode: Courage of Steele, Part 1: Housekeeper Turned Caregiver Steals Homes

The Perfect Scam

AARP

True Crime, Aarp, Fraud, Society & Culture, Scam, Crime, Bobsullivan

4.5 • 980 Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After 72-year-old Steve Steele’s life partner passes away, his housekeeper, Elizabeth, offers to work as his caregiver. Over time, Elizabeth takes over Steve’s finances, even persuading him to deed her his homes. It all comes to a head one Christmas Eve, when Elizabeth accuses Steve, who can hardly stand or walk, of assault and the police cart him off to jail for months. When the public defender’s investigator meets Steve, though, she quickly senses this is elder abuse. The judge agrees and releases Steve, but now he faces an even bigger battle: How does he get his homes back? And will Elizabeth be held accountable for her crimes?

Transcript

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0:00.0	This week on The Perfect Scam.
0:04.0	What was it like that first night in jail? What were you thinking?
0:08.0	I just couldn't face the whole thing. It was horrible.
0:12.0	I mean, just my world, just, everything was turned upside down.
0:22.9	Welcome back to the perfect scam.
0:24.9	I'm your host, Bob Sullivan.
0:28.1	Steve Steele is lonely on Christmas Eve,
0:31.2	living in a tiny shed and barely able to get around using his walker.
0:35.8	When a knock comes at the door that changes his life forever.
0:39.5	He's suddenly dragged off to jail, accused of assaulting his caregiver. But when public defender,
0:47.1	Marafergoso, meets him and sees his mobility challenges, she can't help but wonder if something else is
0:53.4	going on.
0:55.7	Elder care is an amazing profession full of thousands and thousands of kind souls doing
1:01.2	the best kind of work under really challenging circumstances.
1:06.0	But what goes on behind closed doors when a caregiver has nearly unlimited power over someone else?
1:13.0	Well, sometimes things go horribly wrong.
1:16.8	And in this case, Steve Steele is left fighting for his very freedom.
1:22.1	Today is part one of our story, The Courage of Steel.
1:25.4	We've plucked it from our archives while we work on all new episodes
1:29.5	of The Perfect Scam.
1:40.5	It was Christmas Eve, and Steve Steele was in a bad place.
1:45.0	Only a few months earlier, he'd lost the love of his life.
	...

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