A Buchanan woman has been ordered in a civil case to return more than $1 million to her late husband’s caregiver.

“The facts of this care are egregious. This woman was terrible,” said Carrollton attorney Diane Sternlieb, who represented the estate of the deceased James Darwin Hutcheson.

Sternlieb said Hutcheson was a kind and caring man with a gentle spirit. She said he came to her in 2005 to file for divorce from Amanda Kay Hutcheson, who he said was abusing him and stealing his money.

“All of the people that lived where this woman lived were afraid of her,” Sternlieb said.

Prior to meeting his future wife, Hutcheson had lived alone, had never married and had no children. He was a retired U.S. postal worker who had long cared for his sister and ailing mother and had inherited an estimated 150 acres in land from his family.

At the age of 72, he was living alone in a dilapidated house, sick and unable to care for himself.

“That is when (Amanda) and her mother found him,” Sternlieb said.

According to Sternlieb, in early 1998, Amanda met and began to date Hutcheson.

“She would cook for him and come to his house every day,” Sternlieb said.

Then in February 1998, according to Sternlieb, just two months after meeting, Amanda and her mother put Hutcheson in the back of a car and drove to Heflin, Ala., where the Hutchesons were married.

Prior to their marriage, Amanda took Hutcheson to the bank and withdrew $86,000, which she used to purchase a home, according to Sternlieb and the filed divorce proceedings.

“She then began writing notes for Jim to sign,” Sternlieb said. “Notes saying that everything would be left to Amanda, even if they got divorced.”

She then, according to filed divorce proceedings, would have her friend who worked in an attorney’s office notarize them.

“She also began transferring his bank accounts into CDs in her name and then cashing them,” Sternlieb said.

According to the divorce proceedings filed by Amanda, after the Hutchesons had been married for about 18 months, Amanda began making accusations that Hutcheson was abusing her and her mother. She also accused him of having an affair.

“He told me that she and his mother physically attacked him while he laid in the bed,” Sternlieb said.

Sternlieb said that in May 1999, Amanda moved out of Hutcheson’s home and into another one she purchased with money she made selling Jim’s family property.

According to Sternlieb and divorce proceedings, between 2000 and 2004, Amanda sold more than $668,000 of property. She deposited the money in various accounts, some of which have not been recovered. Sternlieb has hired a private investigator to help recover the funds.

Between 2000 and 2004, Hutcheson’s doctor, Sharon Haynes, referred him to a neurological specialist. According to Haynes’ testimony, Amanda refused to take him on the day of his appointment because she needed to meet with her decorator.

“She told the nurse to reschedule in three months,” Sternlieb said.

Haynes called for an investigation of Amanda through the Department of Family and Children’s Services; according to Sternlieb, Amanda had Hutcheson sign an affidavit to call off any government investigations. She then quit taking Hutcheson to see Haynes and reportedly told the doctor she was taking him to see someone else.

According to Hutcheson’s statements during divorce proceedings, a few weeks later he fell in his home and was trapped under his bed for three days.

“He told me that she came in with her mother, stepped over him and just stared,” Sternlieb said.

Amanda called an ambulance, and Jim was admitted to Tanner Medical Center. He had multiple fractures, an eye infection and was suffering from signs of starvation and dehydration, according to Sternlieb. Arsenic was also allegedly found in his system.

During the trial, Haynes testified that because of Jim’s deteriorating health, he needed to be put in a nursing home for constant care. Sternlieb said Amanda refused, stating they didn’t have the money and would have to sell his property. Meanwhile, she made $168,000 of renovations to her Lawson Street home.

At this point, three caregivers were hired, Anita Gilraith, her mother and her aunt. The three cared for Hutcheson for the next two years. Sternlieb said that the caregivers were afraid of Amanda.

In 2005, Hutcheson ran out of money and was unable to pay the caregivers, but they stayed with him for more than a year without being paid, according to Sternlieb. Hutcheson called Gilraith the daughter he never had and left everything to her in his will.

“They couldn’t leave him; they knew if they left, Amanda would kill him,” he said.

In December 2005, Hutcheson filed for divorce, hiring Sternlieb as his attorney. She said she saw him two days before he died, and he made her promise to keep fighting for him.

“I will fight for him,” she said. “I will fight and fight until criminal charges are filed.”

Hutcheson died four days before his divorce from Amanda would have been final, and Sternlieb filed the civil suit. She hopes that the district attorney’s office will file attempted murder charges, though they had not as of publication time.