Cindy always adored both her parents. Her own husband said he never understood anyone loving their parent's as much as she did. His family was not that close, in the way she was to hers. He tolerated her  obsession of love for her family, even tho he did not find it particularly to his liking. In the fall of 1997, our father after a lifetime of excellent health,  began to go downhill. He had a stroke, that would become one of many,(along with prostate cancer),  that would finally leave him disabled and completely bedridden. Being the only daughter here, in our area, the needs of my parents(including medical needs), always fell on me..altho I am the oldest, and have never had great health. I was already 60 years old, when this decline of my father's health began. I  also had a chronically ill husband, who finally died in 1999 from COPD. I had the three of them(at one time), to do for, see that all had their meds, saw doctors, went to hospitals, whatever they needed. I have two brothers here, neither were willing to alter their lives in anyway, to help me.  Nor would any other family members living here, willing to help. My parent's primary doctor told me one day..seeing my father in a wheelchair, and my mother talking non-stop to anyone who would listen..."You need 3 or 4 sisters, to help you". There was only one who was willing to, to come here(nearly 3,000 miles)from her home, husband, and life as she knew it, to help me..that person was my loving, caring sister, Cindy.  There is a sister(Linda), who lives in Florida..but altho we asked her, we understood it was near to impossible for her to come, and help. We never faulted her for that, because we understood. We knew she had a full-time job and had to work to support herself. We do know she cared, and worried about us and our parents....but she has family there, her children and grandchildren. So we realized it was an impossiblity for her to come here, to help(altho she might have wished she could).

Cindy went and every day, to a local nursing home..taking our mother to see our father. She lived with our mother, and they go  every day. I would always,  meet them there. She would do physical therapy( because noone else would), on all his extremeties to hold contractures at bay, as long as possible. She did this, days, and, months on end. I would meet them there and we all would stay hours at a time. The brothers rarely went to see him. The older one went a little more than the younger one(he worshipped his job and money too much). The older one had a girlfriend in the same nursing home, who finally died, in her '40's, of female cancer. So he was there more often, because of her. But the younger one, our father would beg to see him..he rarely would go, unless he needed something(a paper signed, or whatever). BUT Cindy, the caring person she is..saw her husband 3 weeks out of the last 3 1/2 years(until 2002). It has taken a toll on her marriage, her health(like mine, not good), and now possibly her  freedom, Before our father died in 2001, she and I were completely, mentally and physically, exhausted. We spent many, many, nights, without sleep, rarely eating right, ignoring our own health, and struggling sometimes with one,  or both parents, in a hospital, or nursing home, wherever their care or help was needed.

 Before our father died, Cindy had to go into the hospital because she was so worn out and stressed from  so much caregiving. While in there she was put on the drug Paxil(this would prove to be a fatal error). I began to notice her personality changing soon after. She became more impulsive, restless, loud, and boistrous. Her husband said he saw this change too, when she was there with him, those few weeks. I reported it to her therapist who did nothing. I was so concerned, I began begging for help, from anyone, anywhere. I was desperate, to change the situation, any way I could.  I worried about the welfare, of her and my mother. She pleaded with me to be free of the caregiving. We begged family , as well as agencies for help. The family didn't care(we never had respite at all), and the agencies, were too tied up in bureaucratic rules, so that was futile.  I  even tried to buy a house, better suited than mine, to share the care of our mother, with Cindy..to lighten the load on her.  That failed. Cindy never really felt qualified to do  care for our mother, she only did it because she knew I couldn't,(at my age and health) and noone else would. Because of medical bill judgements some hospitals had put against our parent's  credit..that fell thru as so many other avenues I tried had. The reason, we could only qualify for a loan, by my mother's and my incomes being combined. I even tried to get my mother into a nursing facility, since Cindy was soon threatening to leave..our mother was denied(only because she could walk on two feet). They refused to understand she really needed 24/7 constant care, and it was too much for Cindy any longer. It had been for some time.  In addition to all else, altho we loved our mother, she was hard to care for. She rarely did what you asked her to do, and was fighting tooth and nail, over the idea of placing her in adult daycare, or a nursing facility. There was no money to pay for the care(w/o government help), so without public assistance this avenue was out. BUT I knew something had to be done. I was still battling the state agency to get it reviewed again, when our mother died. About mid-April, 2002, our mother, either wittingly, or not , hid her medications(we believe she may have did it on purpose). My sister and I could not find them..altho we looked everywhere for them. A few days later, she hid my sister's meds too.  Both were on Paxil,  Cindy for severe depression, our mother for OCD. My sister went and got two more bottles of Paxil(on two seperate occasions...as soon as our mother found them, she hid those too.  It was impossible to hide anything from our mother. Cindy went into horrible withdrawl soon after. My mother didn't appear to be affected as she was, at the time.

Both mother and daughter were non-violent people who had never before struck another adult, in their entire lives. Neither had ever been violent, or aggressive to anyone. My sister was showing severe signs of withdrawl effects from the Paxil.  I know, because she described them to me, and they were scary..her brain feeling as tho it was turning off, dizziness, skin-crawling sensations, her balance feeling affected, loss of memory effects and more. On May 3rd, 2002, after a quiet,  pleasant day..something turned horribly wrong. My sister has no recall(just snips and pieces)from before a conflict occurred, during, or since, of why, or exactly what occurred. She described it as being surreal, like she wasn't even in her own body, a dream, instead of reality. Our mother(we do not know why)slapped her hard on the face..from there it went into combat, between the two.  After the conflict, my sister says she vaguely remembers being in the sitting room. She finally called me, she said she couldn't find our mother. She sounded spacey, distant, and strange.  I told her to go find a brother, who sometimes slept in his car, to help find our mother. We know our mother lived for a span of time after the conflict, between the two of them(mother and daughter).  What happened between Cindy in the sitting room.. and while the brother was there is not known.  The brother finally called 911, and the police came, interviewed the two, and she was finally told our mother was gone. Until they did, she did not know this. She broke down in a torrent of tears. She was completely devastated. I saw this on a police video.

Cindy Countess at the defense table, the stress of years of caregiving is apparent, she is now broken, and in need of medical, and mental health care that she has been denied, since her incarceration.  Each of her letters are more distressed and disillusioned, won't you please find it in your heart to reach out to help Cindy?  Cindy is a victim, a victim of the judicial system, that has failed to understand what the drug did to her, and of a company that manufactures a dangerous drug (Paxil)..

 I am still to this day, not absolutely sure, Cindy actually ended our mother's life. There are too many ironies that don't add up, regarding the brothers, and conflicting stories they told the police. BUT once the police zeroed in on her, they refused to look  any further.  On September 30th, 2003...despite all the evidence of Cindy's poor health, (cancer surgery in 2003, the invasive kind, has  returned), mental issues, she was convicted to our dismay, of 2nd degree murder.  Despite her mental frailties, and several personality disorders,  proven withdrawl problems(by a drug expert), history of severe major depression, and no criminal history of any kind...instead of aquittal for "Involuntary Intoxication", her defense, she was convicted. Her memory problems, as well as other mental disabilities, were used to trash her, as not credible, not believable.  And she was made out to be an outright liar, by an aggressive, and sometimes cruel prosecutor.  Added to this the brothers, who did nothing to help us, have told vicious lies on her that made it even harder on her in court. There was no way the prosecutor could have got the truth, because you can't get "truth", from liars, and that is the sources, that she got information from. The "brothers" have had a hate-campaign against her, and me for a long time.  She was  very fearful of both of them. That is why, the night of the tragedy there was a struggle with the older brother, over the cordless phone he was holding. She was not acting this way out of guilt..but because these two had been trying to get her in trouble. Some months prior to this sad event..they had already caused her to spend a night in jail, for a trumped up lie and no good reason, and had been threatening her, to cause her to be put in jail again if they could. So she was  terrified of both brothers. It  hurt her so bad, the cruel way they have treated her. I have never been close to them, only to my sisters. They resent me because I know dirty things they do, that are wrong, morally and legally, and they are aware I know all this. Neither one of them, want their "dirty linen"  to come out for observation, but they don't mind trashing Cindy. They resent the two of us...because they know they did nothing to help either parent, so try to bash us to make us look bad, out of jealousy and spite.  They know we put the needs of both parents ahead of everything else, in our lives.

She was never considered innocent by any judicial persons,  even her own court-appointed attorney. The defense she had was questionable at best. As it stands...Her freedom was taken away from her. Being indigent..she could not afford an attorney on her own. She has been made to feel like a "user", and "ungrateful",  by the prosecutor, just because the court had to provide what she did not have money to pay for. Another way of making her feel poor, and smaller than an ant. It isn't enough that she feels destitute and helpless as it is....but more salt must go into the open wound, that is her soul. She is supposed to be grateful, that they JUST  took away her freedom, for something she can't even remember doing.  The judge did convict her, (in my opinion)due to an over dramatic, and fiery young prosecutor.  She is 51 years old, in ill health, an emotional wreck now, who needs a hospital, not prison walls. It grieves my heart, to think, not only have I lost my mother, but my sister who doesn't even remember(the event she is convicted of) has been taken away as well.  This loving sister, who came, voluntarily, and spent years helping our parents, now has been made to appear, like a cold-blooded, ruthless, killer. IF she did the deed(and she never admitted guilt) she is convicted of, it was because, her ability to determine right from wrong  was compromised. This, caused  by years of overwhelming caregiving, her own mental frailities, and bad effects from a drug, that was not right for her. In her own mind, she is innocent...Why? Because she has no memory of doing anything to end our mother's life. Her mental, and physical health are deterioating fast, while she is in prison,  in Troy, Va.   I am absolutely convinced that if something does not change for her, she will not survive. This would not be what our mother would want for her, either. ...she knew her daughter was ill, and that she did way too much, for someone so sick. She is a broken, and grief-stricken person, who grieves every single day(and has ever since the tragedy happened), knowing  she may have played some role in the demise of our mother, tho she does not know how much. She is frightened, and absolutely worn out..from years of worry, poor health, and with few, in this city caring, if she lives or dies.  Everyone else here has abandoned her.  I will do everything in my power to try and see this wrong made right, if it is at all possible to do so.  I pray..that somehow, someway this can be done, if not, I fear it all hasn't just  taken freedom from my sister....but may literally end her life as well. 

Cindy Countess when the judge rendered his verdict and discompassionate statement to her. Is there no mercy for the mentally sick in Virginia?  Won't you try to help Cindy today?

 Is this terror stricken face, the picture of an unremorseful vicious killer?   No!   This is a person who truly does not understand,   traumatized by what has just happened to her "in the name of justice".  Is justice completely blind? I was there,  I was just as dumbfounded as her. I was also upset, that this judge, could do this, with all the evidence that showed this was not a cold-blooded murder,...it was an accidental homicide at worst! It was a tragic event, that  may even have even been done by someone, other than Cindy.  As for the family members who ignored us when we needed help...no they didn't help us, but  these same ones, did not want justice.....they just wanted to see her life destroyed.  I guess this is their way of assuaging the guilt they feel, for not helping her, by seeing her life taken away.  She is already serving a sentence, and so am I. Our days are marred by sad memories of the mother that we lost, but dearly loved...., and because we were able to see our father thru until he passed away by natural means but we weren't able to do so for our mother.  It is a horrible grief that will stay with us both forever.  Our lives will never be the same. There will always be a dark cloud hanging over our lives, because we never wanted our poor mother to be harmed in any way at all. She died from Blunt Force Trauma...according to the autopsy report. Because she was lost in such a tragic way, we will always feel pain, and sorrow, for the tragedy that befell, our poor mother, that night in May....of 2002.  We do not know, for certain, that my sister is truly guilty of the act of ending our mother's life....but she is the one the court saw fit to convict. Despite the fact that she hurts and grieves all the time over the tragedy, someone else may well have ended our mother's life. Noone saw her do it.  Evidence can be planted, and  possibly was. It appeared that the court did not care about that possibility. It doesn't matter, that she has no memory of the event, nor that she is a broken, shell of a human being now. All the court saw..was that someone had to pay..and that  happened to be my heart broken, sister. Whether she did really do it or not, got lost in Virginia's, sometimes heavy-handed way of meting out its own brand of justice.  Unless something in the way of a miracle, happens for my sister...I fear for her.  We must do our best to try and find some justice for her. She will not survive years in prison, in her state of diminished health. As it is now, she is having difficulty with younger inmates. Most of the time, she is living in a state of terror. The younger women apparently see her as vulnerable, and play mind games with her...by stealing from her and sometimes returning a few items, to make her upset and worry. She has a locked box, for her very few items she gets from the canteen, but it has a combination lock and they still get into it, and steal her stuff. Some of them  are cruel to her and have even made threats. Some have even influenced a few guards against her as well. She is afraid to tell other guards who the people  are, for fear of retaliation.  Cindy's health...mentally and physically is going down more and more.   She needs to know that there are those who do care what happens to her! So please, if you can out of compassion help in someway, please do so....Lets try to find some "justice" for Cindy.