Attorneys delivered opening statements Tuesday in the second trial for two Nenana women accused of conning their elderly friend into a bad real estate deal in September 2019.
A Nenana jury will decide whether Vickie Moyle,67, and her daughter, Annie Williams, 48, are guilty of felony first-degree theft and scheme to defraud.
The case centers around the home of then-74-year-old Mae Jensen, and the way the parties agreed it would change hands. The house was worth a little more than $70,000 at the time of the transaction, but the City of Nenana had notified Jensen that the property had accrued about $65,000 in uncollected property taxes.
The defendants hashed out an agreement with Jensen for Williams to take ownership of the home: They would cover the back taxes and pay Jensen the difference between that expense and the home’s value.
But unknown to Jensen, the city could not collect the $65,000 because of a six-year statute of limitations on property taxes and senior tax exemption.
At issue in the case is whether that fact was also unknown to the defendants, or if they understood the unique tax situation and used it to purchase the home for roughly a tenth of what it was worth.
State prosecutor Jeffrey Roe said Tuesday that testimony from city officials will show the latter was true.
“Annie Williams and Vickie Moyle went into the City of Nenana office, and spoke to several employees there. Ms. Moyle and Ms. Williams did the rote research. They looked into the issue,” he said.
But defense attorney Patrick Roach, representing Williams, said uncertainty about the applicable laws remained at the time of the transaction, and he framed the accusations as a way for the City of Nenana to dodge or deflect blame.
Roach said the city had failed to enforce property tax payments for decades – nearly 30 years – and he told the jury that Nenana Mayor Joshua Verhagen sought to rectify that when he took office in 2018, with his team repeatedly sending out statements to property owners, like Jensen.
“What you’re gonna learn is that, at some point, Mayor Verhagen realizes that they can’t legally collect this money. But [the city is] not legally prohibited from accepting it,” Roach said. “Think about that: You can’t force someone to pay it, but if they come in and give you the money, you could take it.”
Jensen was the first to take the witness stand after opening statements. When asked by attorneys, she often replied that she didn’t know or couldn’t remember the technicalities and timeline of the deal.
But Jensen did confirm that her signatures appeared on the paperwork involved in selling the house, a quitclaim deed and another written agreement. And she also answered questions about her relationship with the defendants, particularly Moyle, the Nenana Senior Center Director.
“How do you know them?” Roe asked.
“Because I went to the senior center a lot, and we were all friends,” Jensen replied. She also said during direct and cross examination that she had worked with Moyle at the Monderosa Bar and Grill for years and had been Williams’ neighbor.
A Fairbanks jury convicted Williams and Moyle on all counts in late 2022. But their attorneys successfully filed for the retrial, which is taking place in Nenana, after citing character-based testimony that had broken evidentiary rules.