05 Jul INFAMOUS DALLAS SWISS AVENUE ELDER ABUSE DEFENDANT GOES TO TRIAL ON ATTEMPTED THEFT
One of the defendants (Mark McCay) in the case that raised the conscience of North Texans about elder abuse as chronicled in a 2006 series in the Dallas Morning News is presently facing charges of attempted theft of the Swiss Avenue mansion of the late socialite, Mary Ellen Bendsten. Mr. McCay is on trial relating to having Ms. Bendsten (who was the time 88 and had dementia according to doctors) sign a will shortly before her death leaving her mansion to Mr. McCay and his partner, Justin Burgess.
The series in the Dallas Morning News about the abuse and exploitation of the elderly Dallas socialite created much more awareness to the growing problem, lead a surge in the reporting of elder abuse cases and even resulted in Dallas County having a special prosecutor on these type of cases (and only Bexar county had such a prosecutor at the time the story was published).
If convicted on the attempted theft care, McCay would face up to 20 years in prison. To read more on this story Click Here.