Posted on 09/01/2003 11:03:01 AM PDT by lowbridge
Slay doc's scam: Sick woman: Killer reneged on liver offer
by Tom Farmer
Monday, September 1, 2003
Gender-bending wife-killer Dr. Richard J. Sharpe promised to give an ill Indiana woman part of his liver but instead took the hopeful transplant recipient for hundreds of dollars in phone calls and tricked her into contacting his estranged minor children.
The woman said Sharpe, who is serving life in prison with no chance for parole, pledged to donate part of his liver two days after Christmas, but ultimately reneged on his written agreement earlier this summer.
``He lied to me so much, I just can't believe it,'' said the Indianapolis woman, who asked to be identified only as Isabel. ``It was a dirty, lowdown trick to send me authorization for part of his liver when he didn't really mean it.''
Isabel said she first learned about the cross-dressing Gloucester dermatologist when she saw his November 2001 first-degree murder trial on Court TV.
After Sharpe was convicted of shooting his wife, Karen, to death on July 14, 2000, and sent to the maximum-security prison in Walpole, Isabel said she wrote ``Richy'' because she felt he would be better served in a mental hospital rather than prison.
When Isabel explained she was battling liver disease and would likely need a transplant, Sharpe sent her a handwritten contract offering to be a donor.
``I, Richard J. Sharpe, agree to donate part of my liver to Isabel (last name withheld). I further agree to undergo any pre-operative testing that may be required for the procedure. I am aware of the risks of this procedure, including, but not limited to, infection, liver failure, scarring, brain damage, death. Despite these risks, I agree to the procedure,'' he wrote.
Isabel said Sharpe's promise was just a ploy to get her to help him appeal his conviction. In addition to receiving numerous jailhouse collect calls from Sharpe, Isabel said she spent nearly $2,000 calling lawyers for him and doing other time-consuming errands.
Among those the woman said she contacted were celebrity attorneys Alan Dershowitz and Robert Shapiro.
Isabel wrote officials at the Massachusetts Department of Correction last spring to inquire if Sharpe could make the organ donation and considered marrying him to facilitate the process.
In a letter dated April 26, Sharpe backed out of the deal.
``Out of respect for my children and the memory of my wife, Karen, plus the fact that it would be a `sham marriage,' I cannot go that route,'' wrote Sharpe, who shot his estranged wife while the two youngest of the couple's three children slept in her Wenham home.
Sharpe also tried to get Isabel to send birthday cards to the minor children, Michael, 10, and Alexandra, 8, who are in the custody of their adult sister, Shannon, and Karen Sharpe's sister and brother-in-law, Kathleen and Victor Lembo of Connecticut. An unwitting Isabel was instructed to send the children cards bearing a return address for one of Sharpe's brothers. Inside, she was to write, `Your Dad will always love you. Please write me at'' the brother's address.
Isabel said she telephoned the Lembo home and was furious when she subsequently learned from a Connecticut state trooper that Sharpe was not supposed to contact the children. She also found out from an August 2002 Boston Herald report that Sharpe had tried to convince a New Jersey woman to marry him and conned her out of $1,000 in collect calls.
With her medical condition getting worse, Isabel blasted Sharpe in a July 23 letter.
``Look at the damage you have done to Mikey and Allie and even Shannon. Do you realize how much damage you have done?'' she asked. ``Isn't it bad enough that you lied to me about your donation of part of your liver?
``You really are a lying loser regardless of all the money you made,'' Isabel continued. ``More money seems to be the answer for anyone who cannot get in life the real things you need. Look where it got you, Richy. I wouldn't trade places with you for all the tea in China.''
A promise is a promise. Strap him to a table and take it from him.
FMCDH
After Sharpe was convicted of shooting his wife, Karen, to death on July 14, 2000, and sent to the maximum-security prison in Walpole, Isabel said she wrote ``Richy'' because she felt he would be better served in a mental hospital rather than prison.
Isabel might be better served in a mental hospital. Did she really think a cross-dressing, wife-murderering dermatiologist she already believed to be crazy was going to give her a piece of his liver?
What is meant by gender bending?
BARF...GAG...URP.....!
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