by Donna J. Wade

By her own admission, Mary Stewart was too trusting. In her life, she’d never encountered the duplicity to which she would fall prey, at least not from people she considered friends. The charming and convincing John W. Cronin, aka John C. Wesley, presented himself as a confident, successful, self-made man who knew what he wanted and how to get it. In contrast, his wife Lynn, submissive and quiet, was a picture-perfect Christian wife. Little did Mary know that her perception of Lynn as someone "too nice" to be involved in anything unethical or illegal was integral to the success of John’s scheme to steal as much as possible from her. And Mary’s natural reluctance to think badly of anyone made her a perfect mark for a con man’s game.

When John told Mary that he and Lynn had retired from the art business which made them millionaires so that they could serve their church and others, she did not question his veracity or sincerity. After all, at the beginning of their "friendship", the Wesleys brought Mormon missionaries to her home to educate her about their faith. Born and raised in a small Oklahoma town, Mary believed that people are intrinsically good, and found the Wesleys’ altruism admirable.

THE SETUP

In January of 1991, John offered to help Mary "build her financial assets" as a favor to his new friend, citing his millionaire status as evidence of his investment savvy. Lynn installed Quicken accounting software on Mary's computer, and helped her enter pertinent financial data into the program, then printed out the information for John's review.

Shortly thereafter, the Wesleys announced the reopening of their art business, in order to market a series of America's Cup-themed serigraphs. They asked Mary to help them promote their art by displaying a four-piece set in her home, and claimed the limited edition prints were worth $40,000.

In March, John informed Mary that, in light of her financial condition, the best investment he could recommend was the purchase of the serigraphs, whose value he expected to increase substantially in the next year. He sold Mary the set for $15,000, agreed to buy them back, with interest, if she failed to sell them by the end of the year, and promised to take Mary along to all the America's Cup festivities.

The following month, John offered to teach Terese computer programming, after learning that Terese intended to take classes in that field at a nearby technical college. Mary paid him $4000 to purchase computer equipment and software he would need to teach her, although it wasn't long before he exhausted all he knew on the subject, and Terese’s knowledge and skill eclipsed his.

THE INVESTMENT

In May, John convinced Mary to invest $25,000 in their art business, and issued her shares of stock totaling 150% of her investment. He also persuaded her to hire him as her financial advisor.

He advised her to start a computer rental company, and to pay him and Lynn $10,000 to develop and build the business to a six figure annual gross income. Mary ran the required fictitious business name statement (dba) under the name of Giant Computer, and paid Wesley $10K over the next four months.

By November, John convinced Mary she should put her assets in a Living Trust, and offered to set it up. New information required for the Trust not only completed Mary’s financial picture, it showed John the extent of his gravy train. He told Mary her children were ineligible as trustees because they were beneficiaries. Unaware that Wesley lied, Mary named John as First Trustee and Lynn as Second Trustee of her Living Trust.

WARNING BELLS

When Mary asked her children to list possessions they would like to receive in the event of her death, Terese and Shane heard warning bells. Without Mary’s knowledge, they met and expressed their mutual suspicions of the Wesleys’ motives, and attempted to delay formation of the Trust by withholding the information Mary requested. Neither wanted to place the Wesleys in a position to benefit from their mother’s demise.

By December, Mary’s investment in Giant Computer exceeded $33,000. She asked John to buy back the serigraphs, as previously agreed, so she could use those funds to sustain Giant. John responded that he could not do that because the value of the art would increase to $60,000 by the following spring, and, as her financial advisor, he couldn’t support a "financial error" such as the premature sale of so potentially-lucrative an investment.

In March of 1992, Mary followed John’s advice to incorporate Giant Computer, make Lynn a corporate officer, and hire John as the business manager. Mary and Lynn were salaried at $4000 per month, John at a whopping $10,000. Mary and John agreed to each invest $21,000 into the new corporation; Mary’s in cash, and the Wesleys’ in office furnishings, equipment, and other necessities required in opening a retail storefront.

THE REAL DEAL

By the end of March, trouble surfaced in paradise. John became verbally and emotionally abusive to Terese and Bonnie Blevins, a family friend and computer teacher slated to run the training classes when the business center opened. Tensions escalated to the point that Terese asked Mary to intercede, claiming that John was a bully who paid her no respect, so she couldn’t talk to him. Mary spoke several times with John about his often-hypercritical attitude toward the other personnel, and received assurances that he would change his ways. She also encouraged Terese to stand her ground and not let John walk over her.

Realizing intimidation wasn’t working, John switched tactics, repeatedly criticizing Mary’s children in an effort to undermine her trust in them. His "divide and conquer" strategy proved equally ineffective, due to Mary’s unshakeable trust in her offspring and emerging mistrust of the Wesleys.

Mary met with the Wesleys several times in early June to express her concerns about John’s aggressive, intimidating style and their failure to fulfill their business promises, which had caused her to question the soundness of investing with them. The Wesleys expressed hurt at the Stewarts’ lack of trust, but assured Mary that her investments were safe.

Mary’s growing lack of confidence only motivated John to more drastic measures in pursuit of his goal. Was he desperate enough to silence Terese permanently? John always got what he wanted…

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