http://www.crisismagazine.com/january2004/johansen.htm

Unspun with AnnaZ (& 'Feinie') - w/ guest Bob Schindler, Jr.,
brother of Terri Schindler-Schiavo.
Thurs. Sept. 4, 2003,

Rough transcription - minus the first few questions and using a
scratchy tape - beginning, sorry. Time is short.

(Terri 'collapsed' at age 26, in 1991)

A: What is your belief about what caused this collapse?

B: Well, at the time, we weren't certain. I didn't suspect that her
husband could possibly be behind it. We were all very concerned with
her well being, but it wasn't until recently - last year - that some
very disturbing, troubling, medical evidence surfaced - which really
raises (questions). (It's) something my father had suspected for a
long, long time..a lot longer than I had, that Michael could
possibly have been behind Terri's (collapse).

A: So that it may have been physically brought on.
Now, there are apparently x-rays that show bone fractures and things
like that?

B: That is correct. That's what the terrible truth (is). That
surfaced, I believe, in Nov. of 2002. Bone scans indicated severe
trauma throughout Terri's body.

A: What have the doctors ... have they said (what) they believe may
have caused her to collapse?

B: Well, it's never been investigated. That's one of the
things..that we're (trying) to get done...(get investigated - give
to) ..state attorneys in Florida..We went there.

They also have a doctor's testimony, who said that he has only - I
forget his name - but he came across only one other person who had
the same neck position as Terri and that person's neck position was
caused by strangulation...So he persists, and saw the bone
scan..very troubled by the new evidence. Along with quite a bit of
the circumstantial evidence that supports the notion that Terri
could possibly have been strangled.

We went to the state attorney's office - Bernie McCabe (sp), in
Pinellas County, and, if I remember correctly. they were not very
kind about him getting back to us. They told..my father..even if
Terri was a victim of strangulation, there's a 4-year statute of
limitations which would protect Michael.

A: O.K. Perhaps for that, but this attempt to (withhold food) by the
judiciary - to continue in the, perhaps, murder of his wife would be
something a little bit more current.

B: Correct.

A: And this is what we're really dealing with now.

Now, when this first took place, Terri first collapsed, in those
first few days and weeks that followed this incident, she was
hospitalized immediately?

B: Correct

A: And she's been hospitalized ever since?

B: That's correct.

A: Now, was she responsive at all in the beginning?

B: Yeah, Terri was, uh, she was getting rehab for, uh, I guess for
about a year and a half (out) from her accident and she was making
progress. We have notes by nurses that state she was. It was limited.

A: Has she ever been able to communicate anything that may have
happened to her that night?

B: She's not at that point where she's able to communicate that
well, yet, but she is communicating. She tries all the time to
speak. She receives (virtually) no therapy no - since 1991 - so for
her to speak is very difficult because she has to be taught how to
speak again, but she tries her darndest to..communicate with us.

A: (When did) you last see her?

B: Last night. Her family, we were in shifts all weekend because
Terri was very ill, and I went down last night..

A: Because there was an issue with her being moved and your family
not really being able to be with her.

B: Well, we've always...actually, my little sister, Susie, and I,
uh, were actually barred at one time a couple of years ago from
seeing Terri for a period of 6 months. Until recently, it's just
been my mom, my dad, Susie and myself who have been visiting Terri,
and, uh, of course, Monsignor Malinowski (sp)..visited her as well.

A: O.k., tell us about that controversy.

B: Monsignor Malinowski? When Terri was at the hospital, I guess it
was about two weeks ago now, Monsignor went by to visti Terri. He
always gives her the annointing of the sick, and, now for close to
three years. He went to the hospital by himself, without my parents,
and (I guess) Michael (learned of this)..he told the nurses not to
allow Monsignor to visit Terri, and Judge (Greely?)...barred...from
Terri.

A: So now the problem really at it's crux right now, it's kind of a
custody battle?

B: I guess you could look at it that way. Correct.

A: Her husband..won't divorce her, he won't allow her family to be
in charge of her, to take care of her..it seems he would prefer her
to die.

B: He is, he is Hell-bent on, on killing my sister. He is doing
everything in his power, I mean everything in his power to see that
my sister dies.

A: Let's remind them. Let's find some of his motivation. Now...there
was, of course,..some innuendo that it was an abusive
relationship..there are people who have correlated that that might
have been realistically what was going on, and we've had all this
time in between and now you have him adament to the point where he's
demanding that the law step in and allow her to be sort of be killed
off, and die.

Now, how these fights that are going against it, what is it..are you
trying to (seize) custody or just demand that attention be given?
And then there's of course the money motivation.

B: We want guardianship back of Terri. We want Michael to be removed
as guardian and allow our family to become Terri's caretakers.

A: And this battle has been going on for how long..this specific
case about guardianship?

B: That's been going on since January of 2000.

A: Why won't Michael give that up?

B: Well, if you ask Michael what is behind it, he claims that he's
just doing what Terri wanted. That it's Terri's wish..that's what he
said.

But we believe that, you know, it could be, well, back when he first
initiated the removal, back in Jan. of 2000, uh, there was close to
a million dollars in Terri's trust fund that Michael would have
inherited upon Terri's death, so it was clearly a money motivation,
when this whole thing started.