Woman who stole ring from dying patient sentenced
ALBANY — A former emergency room technician at Albany Medical Center Hospital who stole a ring off a dying cancer patient was sentenced Monday to six months in the Albany County jail, as the daughter of her late victim expressed devastation at the loss of an irreplaceable family heirloom.
Caitlin Mullaney, 36, of Slingerlands, also will be on probation for five years after leaving jail. She must pay $4,200 in restitution.
“This was not just a simple theft and someone getting money for it,” the victim’s daughter, Kim Perrella, said following the sentencing.
Her mother, Tricia Fitzpatrick, who was born and raised in Burnt Hills, was living in San Diego when the family learned she had terminal cancer. They transported her from California to the Capital Region with only one possession: the ring. Fitzpatrick bought the trillion cut garnet ring, with three diamonds to represent her three children (Perrella and her two brothers), after her divorce.
“That’s why it means so much, besides it being the only thing, literally that we brought back from San Diego,” Perrella said.
On July 17, Mullaney stole the ring off the finger of the 75-year-old Fitzpatrick — a theft captured on video. Mullaney pawned the ring, which was melted, for a profit of $120. Mullaney falsely told Albany police she tossed the ring into a field in East Greenbush. It sent detectives on what the victim’s daughter called a wild goose chase.
In court Monday, Perrella said she had hoped Mullaney
would admit to the theft before her mother died, but Mullaney refused. Fitzpatrick died Sept. 11. Mullaney pleaded guilty to grand larceny, a felony, in January.
Perrella said she and her mother had spoken at length about the loss of the ring and Mullaney’s court appearances.
“She did a horrendous thing. She never apologized and she continued to lie up until it could only benefit her,” Perrella said.
Her mother’s “dying wish was that I would get the ring back — her only item of value left before she
died to wear on my finger for the rest of my life to remember her by,” she said. Her mother was “crushed that Caitlin wasn’t coming clean about what really happened — and she did tell me immediately how much it upset her. But she did say, ‘Karma would take care of it all.’ And let’s hope that karma is in the courtroom today.”
Perrella said she hoped Mullaney would realize how she would have felt had someone committed such a “quick heinous act” on her family.
After pleading guilty, Mullaney told a probation
officer conducting a presentencing investigation that she had been “kind of forced” to admit to her actions in court and that “this was the road we went down to get this plea,” Assistant District Attorney Marissa Olsen told the judge.
“Although the defendant does, in some sense, say that she did admit guilt in her pre-sentencing report, it has certainly been lies,” the prosecutor said, questioning the defendant’s remorse. She said she opposed any leniency for Olsen, which Mullaney’s family requested in letters to
the judge. She said it appeared their only interest was that of Mullaney and that the impact of the crime on the victims was lost.
Mullaney’s attorney, Justin dearmas, told the judge his client was a good person with no criminal history who has accepted responsibility and her punishment. He said Mullaney was shocked at the crime.
When given a chance to speak, Mullaney said she was six years sober but that her unspecified addictions still impact her.
“I can’t answer why I did it,” she said. “There’s really no answer ...”
Mullaney apologized to her late victim and her family and said she wished she could have apologized faceto-face. She indicated she committed the crime on behalf of another person and lied about the ring to protect that person. She said she did not know Fitzpatrick was dying or had cancer, but acknowledged it did not matter.
“I was putting somebody else’s life before mine and I shouldn’t have done that and I will learn for the rest of my life not to do something like that,” she said. “It’s hard to teach my children and how to do good in life when their mother is not doing good in life.”
Ackerman said she was disappointed in Mullaney’s minimization of her crimes. She said Mullaney should be grateful for the sentence. The judge said she wanted to impose a state prison sentence but decided against it because all parties supported the plea agreement.
“I saw that video,” the judge said. “(Fitzpatrick) was a clearly frail, elderly woman that you took that ring from … it’s shocking to this court that you then had the police department and the district attorney’s office go out into a field and search for a ring that you knew was never there.”
Perrella told reporters she was pleased with the outcome of the sentence and praised Detectives Robert Lawyer and Patrick O’donovan for their work on the case.
“My greatest hope happened today and that was she came clean, she apologized and we can all heal and move on,” she said. “I’m glad it’s finally over.”