When The Time Comes, I'll Know

WEBVTT

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There's an old saying that declares money
isn't everything, but for some people,

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money is the only thing, and
those people will go to great lengths to

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grab as much money as possible from
any source available. In this story,

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a woman arrives in a small town
and meets a generous older man. The

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man is a wealthy business owner and
veteran who invested wisely in the stock market

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throughout his life. My uncle Vern
was one of the greatest nicest guys I've

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ever met. Vern was a veteran
from Lynchburg, Ohio. He grew up

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in the farming industry, but decided
early in his life that he did not

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want to be a farmer. At
twenty three years old, he moved to

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the town of Shamokin, Pennsylvania.
Verne saw the potential for business in the

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town and loved the beauty of them
mountains. As he grew up in southern

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Ohio, the most he ever saw
was a hill, so the picturesque scenery

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took his breath away. Vern opened
up a business called the Shimokan Equipment Company

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to help furnish the homes, bars, restaurants, and hotels in the area.

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His business offered every and any item
for home or bar, from kitchen

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appliances to air conditioners. Vern always
sold the most up to date styles and

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his company did well. Then Vern
began learning about the stock market and the

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best way to invest his money.
He was very frugal, and he kept

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just enough money for his daily needs
while investing the rest in the market.

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He also invested in some real estate
in town, buying a three story apartment

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building. He chose to live on
the third floor, where the view was

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better, and he rented out the
two lower floors. Eventually, Vern owned

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a list of stocks that represented every
letter of the alphabet. Letter A stood

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for his AT and T stock,
of which he owned a whopping ten thy

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five hundred shares. He soon became
a multi millionaire. Vern enjoyed his wealth

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and dated many ladies for different amounts
of time. Whenever a romantic relationship ended,

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Vern always remained friends and stayed in
contact by phone or an occasional dinner.

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At one point, he was deeply
in love with a woman in Shamokin

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and wanted to marry her. He
even joined the local country club to get

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closer to her. Unfortunately, her
father didn't like Vern, and that rejection

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ended the couple's relationship. Vern,
now in his seventies, continued to run

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the Shamokin Equipment company while investing in
stocks. One afternoon, a woman visited

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Vern's business to look into equipment she
needed to redecorate the local hotel. Let's

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call the woman Rema. Vern helped
Rema and gave her access to everything she

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needed. Hello, miss, welcome
to Chimoku Equipment. How can I help

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you today? I need the furniture
alrighty for your home. No, I

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am redecorating a hotel the places at
dump. Okay, well, I've got

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a big selection of tables and chairs, barstools, anything you need. I

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don't want anything cheap. So the
owner is paying. I don't really care

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how much it costs. We can
charge him for whatever I buy. Okay,

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well, you should probably buy the
best items for the needs of the

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hotel, not just the most expensive
items. The best items are the most

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expensive ones he's paying, so let's
charge him a lot of money. Okay,

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Well, let me show you what
I have. After their first encounter,

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Rema befriended Verne and they go out
to dinner, where he learned more

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about her. This place is nice, Yeah, I think it's the best

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steakhouse in town. So tell me
about yourself. Where are you from?

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I was born and raised in Lebanon. From when I was a girl,

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I always wanted to have money and
be somebody. I got married to a

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mean man who hit me all the
time. He forced me to get the

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job and earn money. I'm sorry
I may have to interrupt here. Sometimes

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her husband wasn't abusive. Reema actually
wasn't satisfied with the money he earned,

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and she chose to work and try
to earn more. Well, he sounds

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like a real jerk. So what
did you do for work? I worked

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in a restaurant. What kind of
restaurant? A steakhouse restaurant? Actually,

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she was a lady of the night. She learned all the tricks of the

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trade and had other girls working for
her. Her business venture was short lived

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as local police discovered the illegal activity. Luckily for Rema, someone informed her

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of the upcoming raid and she took
all her money and any belongings she could

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carry to the local port. From
there, she sailed off to the Venezuela,

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where she had a few relatives.
I decided to go to Venezuela,

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and then I went to Mexico.
That's a lot of traveling. What did

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you do in Mexico? I worked
at the border with the Red Cross.

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I was good with people. The
Red Cross in Texas gave me a green

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car to help them. It was
a six month visa. Then I decided

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to take a bus and live in
Pennsylvania. Oh so you traveled from Texas

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to Shamokin. Yeah, I went
straight to Shamokin. Why did you choose

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Shamokin? I uh, I liked
the name of it. So here's the

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truth. Rema's visa expired and she
bought a bus ticket headed east with the

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hope of getting lost in the huge
population of New York City. She didn't

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make it to New York, though, she ran out of money by the

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time she reached Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
You know what, let me take it

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from here to explain her time in
Pennsylvania. In Harrisburg, Rema took a

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job as a waitress in the local
restaurant. She befriended a young man named

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John, who ate lunch at the
restaurant every day, and the two were

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married not long after. The marriage
lasted one month, as Rema left John

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because he didn't earn enough money for
the lifestyle she wanted. She headed north

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on a bus and John never saw
her again. He was granted a divorce

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A couple of years later, Rema
landed in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and began

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working in the kitchen of a local
hotel. Her job afforded her both a

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room and food. The situation was
perfect, but she and the married hotel

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owners started an affair. When the
owner's longtime wife discovered her husband was cheating,

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Rema was asked to leave. Rema
wasn't leaving quietly, though, She

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threatened to publicly expose the owner's infidelities, so he offered her fifteen thousand dollars

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to leave town. Rema was gone
by the end of the day. For

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her next stop, Rema traveled to
Wilkesbury, Pennsylvania, where she was hired

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to work in cold food storage at
a hotel. Meanwhile, the local hotel

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in the nearby area of Shamokin was
struggling and in need of help with reservations.

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The owner of the Jefferson Hotel then
hired Rema to help cook and put

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the hotel on the map. She
would end up doing more than that.

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She lived in the hotel, ran
the kitchen a dining room, and started

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working on redecorating the establishment, which
takes us back to how she met vern.

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In case you're wondering how I know
all Rema's backstory, I'll explain that

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later. Over time, Verne and
Rema continued to have more dinners and got

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more acquainted. At one point,
though, Rema became angry with Verne when

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he refused to let her buy her
hotel needs on credit. I want to

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buy all this furniture on credit credit, Rema. I'm not comfortable with that.

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Why not? Don't be a pain? Verne. I don't accept credit.

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I never have what. You're being
stupid, Arima. You're not being

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logical. Give me what I want. No, I can't do that.

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You're being an idiot. Even without
her furniture on credit, Rema continued to

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help popularize the Jefferson Hotel in her
own way. She added upstairs card games

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for men, where she served them
drinks and dessert. Conversations eventually started around

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including more than dessert. Rema suggested
adding girls to the evening card games,

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some things she had passed experience in. Rema went into town and recruited girls,

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mostly teenagers to attend the evening events. She would approach girls on the

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street, Hey, do you need
money? Are you looking for a job.

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I can pay you a lot of
money to come work into my hotel.

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Come with me, I'll give you
a job. Prostitution in small towns

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is more common than people think,
and it's often underreported. In the Journal

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of Sociology and Social Work, there
was a report on prostitution in rural counties

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after interviews with law enforcement and social
workers. The report mentions, quote our

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data hints that prostitution may be far
more common than official statistics suggest. The

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report also details that often prostitution in
rural areas can be an economic strategy to

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deal with unemployment and poverty in the
region, but it can also be related

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to drug use. With some of
the girls in the town working in the

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hotel started rolling in, Rema more
or less served as the position of a

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pimp. Generally, pimps are men
who control prostitutes and arrange sexual encounters while

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taking some of their earnings. Rema
positioned herself as this type of nefarious agent.

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Some of the prostitution money went into
the hotel cash register, but most

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of it went into Rema's purse.
Meanwhile, the owner of the hotel now

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had several new business ventures, and
he moved his family away from Shimochen.

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He still visited the hotel when he
could, and one afternoon he noticed a

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young woman leaning up against the side
of the building. He asked what she

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was doing there, and she replied, I work here. Are you looking

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for a good time? The owner
told the girl to leave, and he

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ran into the hotel to find Rema
heiious. He fired Rema and ordered her

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to get out immediately. Rema snapped
and started swinging, but didn't don't land

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any punches. She gathered her belongings
and left the hotel, but not before

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giving the owner a piece of her
mind. I made this hotel big.

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I made a lot of money for
you, you stupid king idiot. You

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I don't care if I use girls
to bring in customers. It works.

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You are going to get pay for
this, You'll see you. Reema broke

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into the hotel that same night and
washed her clothes in the kitchen sink.

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The next morning, the owner found
her sleeping on the banquet table with her

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clothes drying off. The owner called
the police, who removed her from the

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building. She then reached out to
Verne and fabricated a story about abuse at

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the hotel. What happened exactly?
The owner he beat me up, He

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abused me. He punched me in
the face. Well, luckily, it

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doesn't look like he hurt you at
all. You don't have a black eye

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or any bruises. Oh no,
I mean he punched me in the stomach.

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Wow, that's terrible. I need
to sue him, but they don't

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have any money. Oh, I
can let you use my attorney and you

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can pay me back when you get
back on your feet. What I am

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already on my feet. It's an
expression. You can pay me back when

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you have money again. Okay.
Vern wasn't usually a fan of just giving

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people money. He would always be
open to lending money to anyone who asked,

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but he expected to be paid back. He disliked freeloaders who use people

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for money, but he would give
people money in certain circumstances. At one

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point, his friend's mother needed surgery, and Vern gave him the money without

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question. That wasn't cheap. Vern's
kindness, though, could be taken advantage

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of, and Rema was becoming well
aware of this fact. Vern's attorney soon

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recognized Rema's abuse story for what it
truly was, and he suggested she find

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another lawyer. Rema not only lied
about abuse, she accused the owner of

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the hotel of being complicit in the
prostitution. It took the owner ten years

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to fight her in court, and
after one of the girls confessed that Rema

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was lying, the owner finally won
his case, ending his nightmare. Meanwhile,

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Rema asked Fern for help with a
place to live. Vern was very

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patriotic, though, and refused to
grant one of his apartments to someone who

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wasn't a tax paying citizen. Verne, you have an apartment building. Let

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me live in one of the apartments, Rema. I can't let you live

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there if you aren't paying your share
in taxes. Taxes, I already left

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taxes. Who cares about taxes?
Give me a place to live? No,

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not Texas, I'm talking about paying
your just Let me reach out to

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my friend Betty. Who's Betty.
She's my friend. She might have a

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place for you. Good. Reach
out to Betty. Contacted at Betty,

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who owned a large home with fare
rooms. Betty agreed to let Riema rent

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a room, not long after,
Rema started to notice Erne's possessions. Vern

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owned a nice car and he generally
dressed well. Once a year he would

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travel to New York and buy silk
ties and monogram shirts. Rema soon realized

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that Vern was wealthy and had no
family in Shamokin. That's when Vern became

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her new target. Vern, you
don't have any family in Shamokin. No,

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No, most of them are in
Ohio. Huh. I saw you

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have a nice car. Thanks,
it's a Cadillac, my favorite kind of

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car. I think they're really well
made. Expensive. Yeah, it's not

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a cheap car. Vern. Do
you have a lot of money? Huh,

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I don't like to talk about those
things. You spend money in the

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stock markets? Oh? Yes,
I love investing and finding great stocks.

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You can teach me. Sure,
I can give you some tips. Make

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me rich like you. Huh.
After realizing Verne was wealthy, Rima then

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noticed that he paid a couple to
clean his apartment, and she decided to

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try to take their jobs. The
closer she could get to Erne's money,

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the better. Vern. Those people
that clean your apartments do a bad,

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bad job. Really, they always
seem very efficient to me. No,

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I am more effishing. Hire me
to clean and I'll cook for you too.

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You know I am a good cook. Well, I wouldn't mind a

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hot meal. You can give me
money each week and I'll buy you food.

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Okay, I'll pay you once a
week and give you money for my

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groceries. Yes, hire me all
right. Outside of Verne, the people

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of Shimoke and weren't welcoming to Rema. Some folks were just racist and didn't

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like her accent, while others were
aware of her misdeeds and prostitution at the

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hotel. She still determined, though, to get something out of any of

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the small town folks that she can
do. She already victimized the hotel owner,

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some of the girls in the area, and was working on vern but

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there was more bilking to be done. Next up were the generous and kind

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folks of Shimokin. As Rema was
now settled in Betty's home and working for

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Verne, she devised a plan to
get her sister and two nephews into the

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United States from Lebanon. Rema started
to cry around certain people in town,

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who then offered to console her.
She complained about missing her family and being

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unable to afford to bring them to
the US. As more people around town

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heard her story, a group of
them decided to help and gathered a fund.

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Betty agreed to renovate the upstairs of
her home where Rema lived, adding

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a kitchenette and another bathroom. The
people in town used the fund to pay

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for the construction, and when complete, Rema's sister and her two sons arrived

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in town and moved in. The
boys then enrolled in the local high school.

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Vern had a soft spot for the
boys and agreed to help out.

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Reema would help out in her own
way. She took half the food that

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she purchased for Vern each week,
using his money, of course, and

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gave it to her sister and nephews. Have you seen my cereal? No?

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What about the milk? Didn't you
just go shopping? You drank it

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all? I don't think so.
You don't remember. I don't think you

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00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:33.759
bought any You're just confused, Vern, I'm not confused enough. When Vern

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turned seventy eight years old, he
decided to finally sell his business to a

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loyal employee of seventeen years, for
no longer had the stamina to run the

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business and the way he demanded of
himself. The Shimokan Equipment company was now

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under new ownership. At this point, Vern's eyesight was failing and he had

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several minor car accidents which sent his
insurance skyrocketing. Rema offered to be his

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chauffeur. If Verne needed to depend
on her for transportation, she would have

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even more control over him. She
of course, needed to learn to drive

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first, Vern, I shall drive
you around. You can't drive good anymore.

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Mm. Yeah, my eyes aren't
what they used to be. But

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you don't even know how to drive. So find someone to show me how.

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00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:27.799
Let me see what I can do. Find someone Vern. So another

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request from Rima from Vern, who
was kindly accommodating as usual, His friend

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and the police department agreed to teach
Rima to drive, and she received her

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license. She then offered to drive
for Vern, but she also wanted more.

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Okay, I have my license now, so I can drive you.

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00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:49.240
That's really great, congratulations, Rema. You need to let me move in

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now? Move in? Yes?
Uh? You want to live with me?

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Yes? Let me sleep on the
couch? Well yes, um,

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yes, okay yes. At this
point, Rema had wormed her way completely

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into Vern's life by taking advantage of
his kind nature. He depended on her

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for food, transportation, and now
she was literally in his home, which

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gave her access to him and his
possessions. Twenty four to seven, while

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living in Vern's home, Rema asked
him again to give her advice about the

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stock market. Vern, what stock
should I buy? Well, you should

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look for companies that you think have
a real future. What companies you have

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to research and read about them?
Communication companies are good. Everyone needs to

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communicate. But what company I've made
money from? AT and T stock?

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00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:45.720
Okay, I'll buy that. Well, it's in expensive stock. You need

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to spend a lot of money to
buy anything substantial. Okay, I spend

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00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:53.000
a lot of money. I'm not
sure you have enough. I'm talking thousands

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00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:59.720
and thousands. Don't worry, I
have money. Rema then began buying her

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own stock using Verne's money and any
of his guidance. She discovered the combination

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of his safe and in it he
had ninety five thousand dollars in bearer bonds.

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Reema took one bearer bond worth five
thousand dollars, assuming Vern, but

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never noticed he never did. She
had no clue what to do with the

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bond, so she reached out to
a local attorney. She Liden said that

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Vern gave it to her and asked
how she could cash it. She then

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00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:30.759
deposited the bond into her bank account. A bear bond is a physical certificate

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00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:36.680
with coupons attached that are used to
redeem the interest payments. As the ownership

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00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:40.240
is not registered, the owner of
a bear bond is simply the person in

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00:20:40.279 --> 00:20:44.279
possession of it. Because of this, bear bonds are as vulnerable as cash

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to being stolen. Bear bonds are
now virtually extinct in the US because the

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lack of registration made them ideal for
use in money laundering, tax evasion,

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00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:57.400
and in this case, theft.
Over the next several years, Vern unfortunately

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suffered constant loss of fail. First, his nephew passed away, two years

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00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:06.279
later, his brother in law passed
away, and two years after that his

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00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:11.079
sister passed away. Nevertheless, Verne
still enjoyed calling and seeing his remaining family

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on holidays. One summer, my
mom and my family visited Vern in Shimokin.

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He welcomed us with open arms and
a big smile. He pulled pictures

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00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:25.640
of our children from his desk stoer
and named each one of them. That's

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00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:30.319
Kristen. There's Michael. His name's
Jeff. Hello, h Rema. This

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is my housekeeper, cook and driver. Rema. Hello, nice to meet

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00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:41.440
you. Come eat. I have
dinner for everyone. Rema seemed kind and

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she prepared a delicious dinner for us. She was a very good cook.

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Vern was in good spirits and he
sang an Irish song and his beautiful tenor

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voice. Just two years later,
Vern was unfortunately aging quickly, both physically

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and mentally. He had trouble walking
and could only climb the stairs to his

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own apartment once a day. On
Vern's ninetieth birthday, our family visited him

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in Shamokin. We asked Rema if
we could invite some of Verne's friends,

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but her response was that they were
all either dead or just wanted his money.

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After our visit, I mentioned to
Rema to please contact us if he

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was ever in need of anything at
all. Six months later, Verne entered

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the Shamokin hospital. No diagnosis was
confirmed, but the first actor who examined

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him thought it was the flu.
My mom and I wanted to see Vern,

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00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:36.880
so we called Rema. Hello,
No, don't come to visit.

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Vern is back from the hospital and
doing better. Anyway, don't come here.

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00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:47.000
Whenever we called to speak with Vern, Rema gave an excuse. Hello,

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No, he can't talk. He's
sleeping. I don't want to wake

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00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:59.039
him. Hello, No, he
can't talk. His teeth are out.

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He's embarased. We kept calling and
calling Vern, but received no contact from

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him. Rema was definitely trying to
get us out of the picture. After

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many unanswered calls, Rema finally called
back and informed us that Vern was in

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the Via Hospital in Washington, d
C. Rema purchased an expensive home in

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00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:22.759
nearby Alexandria and traveled there every weekend. At this point, Rema's sister and

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00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:27.720
nephews moved to Philadelphia, where the
boys started college. With practically no contact

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00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:32.200
from Rema, my mom and I
decided to drive to the Via Hospital in

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Washington to find out what was going
on. When we arrived at the hospital,

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we were informed that Vern was no
longer there and that they were unaware

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00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:44.880
of where he currently resided. We
asked the hospital to reach out to Rema

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00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:49.880
to find out where Verne was located. Hello, where's Vern? Who's asking?

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00:23:51.640 --> 00:23:55.960
No, don't tell them where he
is, with Rema refusing to give

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00:23:56.039 --> 00:24:00.160
us Verne's location, We called around
to local nursing homes to see if we

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00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:03.599
could find him. We eventually did
on our fourth try. We made arrangements

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00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:07.519
with the nursing home to see him. When we visited Vern, he looked

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00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:15.000
unhealthy and unfortunately couldn't remember who we
were. Hi, thanks so much for

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00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:25.440
visiting me. I can't recall your
names right now? Where do I know

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00:24:25.559 --> 00:24:30.000
you ladies from? After about ten
minutes, Rema came bursting in, Oh,

300
00:24:30.119 --> 00:24:33.000
you should have told me you were
coming. I would have made a

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00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:37.640
party. I take the two of
you to lunch. We agreed, accepted

302
00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:44.200
her insincerity. During lunch, Rema
discussed a new will that Vern supposedly wrote

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00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:48.279
but hadn't signed yet. Rema mentioned
that she's waiting for Vern to have a

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00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:52.079
lucid day so he could sign a
new will. Vern said he needed to

305
00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:56.880
change his will. He thought it
was old and it needed to be more

306
00:24:56.960 --> 00:25:00.920
new, but after he wrote it, he forgot to se I'll make sure

307
00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:07.359
he signs it when he remembers again. Attempts to forge wills sent her around

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00:25:07.400 --> 00:25:14.279
three strategies. First, there's the
invalid signature where the person photocopies, traces

309
00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:18.720
or handwrites the person's name on the
will. Second, there's the invalid witness,

310
00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:22.799
where either a fake witness is used
or their signatures for us as well.

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00:25:23.559 --> 00:25:26.720
Third, there's the lack of capacity, where the will is signed by

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00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:30.839
the person but they are not of
sound mind for it to be legal.

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00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:36.720
After lunch, Rema gave us a
tour of her luxurious Alexandria home. She

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00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:41.359
spent four hundred thousand dollars of Verne's
money on the home. We learned that

315
00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:47.400
the cost just for the landscaping in
the backyard was thirty five thousand dollars a

316
00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:52.000
year. She spoke about how she
cared for vern when he got sick and

317
00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:55.920
put him in the car with a
pillow under his head and a blanket because

318
00:25:55.960 --> 00:25:59.839
he wanted to go to the VA
in Washington. Rema then drove us throughout

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00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:03.440
Washington, DC. She said that
Verne wanted a new car, so she

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00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:07.680
traded in his Cadillac for the most
current model. As he was stuck in

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00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:11.319
the nursing home, it didn't make
any sense that he even cared about a

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00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:15.000
new car at that point. She
drove way too fast and came within inches

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00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:22.680
of hurt in other cars. I
can't imagine poor Vernon having to endure her

324
00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:26.480
insane driving. After the white knuckle
driving tour, Rema dropped us off at

325
00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:33.880
our motel. Before exiting the car, Rema explained the current money situation vern

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00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:37.240
Ene me, we have lots of
money. Just tell me how much you

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00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:41.599
want to go away and they'll write
you a check or give you a stock.

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00:26:42.119 --> 00:26:45.960
My mom and I were infuriated by
this offer. I informed Rema that

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00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:51.359
we have never asked our uncle for
money and never will. We exited the

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00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:55.000
car, slamming the doors. Rema
then tried again to offer Vern's money to

331
00:26:55.079 --> 00:26:59.519
my mom. How about you just
tell me how much you want. There

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00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:03.599
is greed in everybody. My mom
looked her in the eyes and explained,

333
00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:07.519
well, there's not greed in me. Rema began to drive off, then

334
00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:11.680
slowed down to look at us in
disbelief. After realizing we weren't changing our

335
00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:17.640
minds about taking any money, she
sped away. We told Reema that we

336
00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:21.599
were heading home the following day,
but instead decided to return to the nursing

337
00:27:21.640 --> 00:27:26.119
home the next morning to fully evaluate
what was going on with Verne. We

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00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:30.319
entered Erne's room and found him sleeping. As soon as I said his name,

339
00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:33.680
his eyes opened wide and he smiled. The orderly entered and I asked

340
00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:38.319
if Ern could be brought into the
visiting area. The orderly opened nearby drawers

341
00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:42.000
so Verne could get dressed, but
we discovered he had no clothes. The

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00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:45.839
Orderly said that Verne could borrow some
from his roommate, like he has in

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00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:51.079
the past. Vern also didn't have
any glasses to see with or teeth to

344
00:27:51.160 --> 00:27:56.000
eat with. We were furious about
Verne's lack of care and wondered how cruel

345
00:27:56.039 --> 00:28:00.400
can Reema be to this man who
always helped her. After Vern was brought

346
00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:04.440
into the visitors area, we started
to speak with his doctor. We informed

347
00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:08.000
the doctor that we were relatives from
out of state and that our uncle was

348
00:28:08.039 --> 00:28:14.279
ill and being taken advantage of.
The doctor interviewed Vern, who was confused

349
00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:18.920
by his questions because of his progressing
Alzheimer's disease. We told the doctor that

350
00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:23.079
Verne needed a guardian to start looking
out for his best interests. I asked

351
00:28:23.079 --> 00:28:27.359
the doctor to write up a document
about Vern's needs in order to show something

352
00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:32.920
to an attorney or judge. The
doctor agreed and wrote a message about Vern's

353
00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:37.880
condition. We thanked the doctor and
returned to our attention to Vern. We

354
00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:41.039
took Vern in his wheel chair over
to the window and pointed out some puppies

355
00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:47.200
playing near by. He smiled and
acknowledged the puppies. We eventually leave and

356
00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:51.640
Vern was placed next to another gentleman
he befriended at the nursing home. The

357
00:28:51.720 --> 00:28:55.920
following day, we traveled to Shimokun
to attempt to become the legal guardians for

358
00:28:56.039 --> 00:29:00.119
Vern. Rema was contacted and informed
of our plans. A month later,

359
00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:06.559
Vern was suddenly violently ill and vomiting
at the nursing home. The doctor explained

360
00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:10.359
to us that Vern had some sort
of fluid in him that was making him

361
00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:14.559
sick, but no one could figure
out the cause. Vern was placed on

362
00:29:14.680 --> 00:29:19.000
a ventilator and ten days later he
sadly passed away. I think it may

363
00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:23.359
have been arsenic poisoning, but I
have no proof. Vern always wanted to

364
00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:27.599
leave most of his estate to charities
and the poor, but we discovered that

365
00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:33.200
Vern's new will that he supposedly signed
now gave all of his money and property

366
00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:37.400
to Rima. We didn't buy this
for a second and decided to contest the

367
00:29:37.480 --> 00:29:42.640
will. The doctors at the Via
Hospital wanted to have an autopsy performed on

368
00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:48.440
Vern, but Rima had control over
his body via the will and adamantly refused.

369
00:29:49.480 --> 00:29:53.759
Our attempt to contest the will was
a long process that took nine months.

370
00:29:55.079 --> 00:29:57.359
We won in the lower court,
but then had to fight Rima's appeal.

371
00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:03.599
Our attorney hired a detective to investigate
Rima, so that's when we discovered

372
00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:07.920
her extensive, sordid history that I
detailed earlier. During the time we were

373
00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:11.160
battling Rema in court, she spent
all of Evern's money on land in Virginia.

374
00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:15.079
She bought a farm for eight hundred
and sixty five thousand dollars, of

375
00:30:15.160 --> 00:30:19.839
building for a million dollars, which
she named the Rema Building, and twenty

376
00:30:19.880 --> 00:30:25.200
houses throughout the state. We finally
won our contest of the will, but

377
00:30:25.319 --> 00:30:29.160
at that point Rema had spent any
money Verne had left. Eventually, though

378
00:30:29.240 --> 00:30:33.440
all of Rema's properties were foreclosed,
she had a problem making payments so long

379
00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:37.279
Rema Building. Rema said in the
past that she wanted to have money and

380
00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:41.200
be somebody. Well. She got
her money, but the only somebody she

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00:30:41.319 --> 00:30:48.160
became was an opportunist who stole a
kind old man's fortune and built the generous

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00:30:48.200 --> 00:30:52.119
people in a small town. Anyone
Rima met was always left worse off after

383
00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:56.559
she took anything and everything she could
from them. She took advantage of anyone

384
00:30:56.720 --> 00:31:02.200
kind or generous, and people like
her are the reason there's a cynical saying,

385
00:31:02.599 --> 00:31:07.000
no good deed goes unpunished. Even
though Verne has passed away, my

386
00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:11.480
family and I won't stop fighting for
his memory. Vern never wanted to allow

387
00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:15.039
freeloaders into his life, but as
he aged and mentally declined, his defenses

388
00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:21.480
were unfortunately down. I hope his
story serves as a cautionary tale to people

389
00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:25.440
in the future who may have a
similar situation with a loved one. There's

390
00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:29.599
sadly Arima in every town, and
the good people out there need to watch

391
00:31:29.640 --> 00:31:52.799
out for the bad people like her. Allegedly is a production of Voyage Media.

392
00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:56.279
The series is produced by Nat Mandel, Albertmidas, and Dan Benimore.

393
00:31:56.440 --> 00:32:00.519
This episode, When the Time Comes
I'll Know, was written, produced,

394
00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:04.759
and directed by Jason Cheney, based
on the books When the Time Comes,

395
00:32:04.759 --> 00:32:09.119
I'll Know and The Trail of Greed
leads to black Letter Law by Sally Burns,

396
00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:14.119
currently available on Amazon. A link
is in the show notes, starring

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00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:20.279
Jerome Saint Jerome as Verne, and
Ali Chan Asrima. Original music by Derlis

398
00:32:20.279 --> 00:32:25.160
Gonsales, edited sound design and mixed
by John Higgins. If you're enjoying the

399
00:32:25.200 --> 00:32:30.079
show, please leave us a five
star review on Apple Podcasts or anywhere you're

400
00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:31.599
listening, and subscribe now for future
episodes