I came home to visit my elderly mother, but when I offered to bathe her, she recoiled in terror. “Please… don’t take off my coat,” she whispered, trembling

The jury deliberated for less than ninety minutes.

At 4:00 PM on Friday afternoon, the courtroom was brought back to order.

Daniel and Vanessa stood beside their attorneys, trembling so violently they could barely keep their feet on the carpet.

"Will the defendants please rise for the verdict," Judge Thorne commanded.

The jury foreman stood up, holding a thick stack of formal verdict sheets.

"On Count 1: First-degree elder abuse... we find the defendant, Daniel Vance, GUILTY. We find the defendant, Vanessa Vance, GUILTY."

"On Count 2: Felony battery with severe bodily harm... GUILTY. GUILTY."

"On Count 3: False imprisonment... GUILTY. GUILTY."

"On Count 4: Grand larceny over one hundred thousand dollars... GUILTY. GUILTY."

"On Count 5: Conspiracy to commit murder by medical neglect... GUILTY. GUILTY."

Guilty on all thirty-two total counts.

Vanessa collapsed onto the floor, screaming in wild, hysterical terror as court officers grabbed her arms, lifting her back up. Daniel stared at the judge with a hollow, vacant expression, his soul completely hollowed out by the weight of his own destruction.

Judge Thorne didn't delay sentencing. She delivered it right then and there.

"In my thirty years on the bench," Judge Thorne said, her voice ringing out like a iron hammer, "I have rarely witnessed a display of such callous, calculated, and predatory evil. You took a woman who gave you life, who nurtured you, and you treated her like a bank account to be looted and a prisoner to be tortured."

She looked down at Daniel.

"Daniel Vance: On the charges of conspiracy, felony abuse, and grand larceny, I sentence you to thirty-two years at the State Maximum Security Correctional Facility, without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years."

She turned her gaze to Vanessa.

"Vanessa Vance: I sentence you to twenty-eight years at the Women’s Correctional Facility, without the possibility of parole for twenty years."

"Furthermore," Judge Thorne concluded, slamming her gavel down with absolute finality, "all personal assets, property, and future earnings of both defendants are permanently assigned to the Eleanor Vance Restitution Trust. Court is adjourned."

The gallery erupted into cheers as Daniel and Vanessa were dragged out of the side doors in heavy chains, their lives as free human beings permanently extinguished.