Trial date set for Fenwick
GREENCASTLE -- A trial date has been set for a Greencastle woman accused of stealing more than $200,000 from a church where she worked part-time as an administrative and financial secretary.
Melynda J. "Mindy" Fenwick, 37, was arrested on Aug. 11 and charged with six counts of Class C felony forgery and five counts of Class D felony theft in connection with incidents that are alleged to have happened over a period of several years at Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church in Greencastle.
Judge Matthew Headley set Fenwick's trial for Jan. 27 and a final pretrial conference for Jan. 7.
At a pretrial conference in Putnam County Circuit Court Thursday, Fenwick's attorney James Ensley made reference to "ongoing negotiations" with the prosecutor's office.
Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter clarified that no real negotiations had -- or would -- take place.
"There have not been any plea offers, and there aren't going to be any," he said.
The state requested that Fenwick's employment records from Old National Bank, where she worked before being hired at Gobin, he subpoenaed. Headley and Ensely argued that those records would have no relevance in the current case against Fenwick.
"I can't say for sure what the relevance might be; we just need them to confirm something we've been told," said Deputy Prosector Justin Long. "I think it will be relevant if it pans out the way we think it will."
Ensley said if the state's reason for wanting the ONB records was to file further charges, that was something he should have known about.
"I don't see how (the ONB records) pertain at all," he said.
Headley agreed with Ensley.
"Your request is denied," he told Long. "You haven't showed me anything yet."
Fenwick had worked at Gobin since 2004, and allegedly began stealing from the church less than a year later. The last of the alleged thefts occurred the day before her arrest on Aug. 11.
Fenwick will remain out of jail on the 10 percent of a $30,000 that was posted for her by a family member on Aug. 14.
The Gobin thefts were discovered when church officials found major discrepancies and what appeared to be doctored bank statements when conducting an audit of the church's books.
According to court documents, Fenwick admitted to writing as many as 100 checks to herself off Gobin's account, as well as to forging signatures on those checks. She also produced a flash drive on which she saved the bank statements she falsified, an affidavit of probable cause said.
Currently, the amount of money Fenwick is accused of stealing from Gobin is $274,000, although an investigation is ongoing and that total is likely to rise.