On Her Own: A Chronology

Summer of 1977: Beatrice Demers is forced to retire from the University of Rhode Island because she has reached the age of 70.

Feb. 26, 1998: An oil deliveryman finds Demers at home living in squalor.

March 4, 1998: The state Department of Elderly Affairs' Self-Neglect Unit makes its first visit to Demers.

March 9, 1998: A DEA-assigned caseworker assesses Demers to be at "high risk" because of her living environment.

Aug. 12, 1998: A DEA-assigned caseworker goes to Demers' house but can't see inside because there are so many boxes blocking the windows.

Sept. 19, 1998: The South Kingstown police receive neighbors' complaints about Demers' cats.

Oct. 1, 1998: A South Kingstown police detective and a social worker assigned by the DEA go to Demers' house but she refuses to let them in.

Aug. 23, 1999: An appliance repairman calls the DEA's Elder Abuse Hotline because he's concerned about Demers' living conditions.

April 12, 2000: The South Kingstown building inspector and DEA staff meet to discuss the conditions of Demers' house and whether it can be condemned.

June 15, 2000: Demers' household helper, Alice Jane Barker, tells a caseworker assigned by the DEA's Self-Neglect Unit that Demers can take care of herself and doesn't need the DEA's help.

Aug. 30, 2000: The DEA closes its file on Demers.

Jan. 3, 2001: Demers, who is having trouble breathing, is hospitalized after 19 firefighters, using a cherry picker, remove her from her house.

Jan. 22, 2001: Demers returns home.

Jan. 29, 2001: The DEA sends a social worker to check on Demers and is told by Barker that Demers will call if she needs help.

March 7, 2001: The Visiting Nurse Association decides it will no longer enter Demers' house because of the squalor.

March 16, 2001: A social worker assigned by the DEA meets with a second cousin of Demers and Frederick G. Kilguss Jr., co-trustee of Demers' trust who holds power of attorney for her, to discuss her safety, the condition of her home and the number of cats she possesses. The DEA decides to deactivate its file on Demers because she has Barker to help her at home.

July 5, 2002: Beatrice Demers executes a will, power of attorney and a trust agreement.

Dec. 6, 2002: Lewis Barker tells South Kingstown police that he believes his mother, Alice Jane Barker, has been stealing money from Demers.

Dec. 18, 2002: Demers tells a South Kingstown police detective that she doesn't want to press charges against Barker. The detective alerts the DEA's Abuse Unit.

July 29, 2003: After getting a call from South Kingstown Senior Services about the squalor Demers is living in, the DEA asks Paula Goldman, a registered nurse, to check in on Demers.

Aug. 5, 2003: South Kingstown police alert the DEA to the "deplorable conditions" in Demers' house and the fact that she is living alone with no one to care for her.

Sept. 10, 2003: A psychiatric exam is performed on Beatrice Demers.

Sept. 18, 2003: Demers is placed under temporary guardianship by the Probate Court. Afterward, she is hospitalized.

Sept. 29, 2003: Lawyer R.J. Connelly III, Demers' temporary guardian for financial matters, files court papers stating that Demers needs a permanent guardian. The DEA agrees. In the court papers, Connelly accuses Demers' co-trustees, Kilguss and accountant John Parmelee, of failing to protect her from herself and others.

Oct. 10, 2003: The trustees object to permanent guardianship for Demers.

Oct. 14, 2003: Probate Judge Stephen White appoints lawyer Margaret L. Hogan to represent Demers' interests in the guardianship proceedings.

Oct. 17, 2003: Demers returns home from a nursing home; she is upset that most of her possessions have been dumped by workers hired by Connelly.

Oct. 21, 2003: Demers tells Hogan she does not want a guardian and complains about all of the items missing from her house.

Oct. 22, 2003: Connelly tells Hogan he was given very little time to clean up Demers' house and that anything that was thrown out was junk. He tells Hogan that Demers needs a permanent guardian and that Kilguss and Parmelee are unsuitable.

Oct. 31, 2003: Parmelee tells Hogan he has borrowed money from Demers over the years but has paid the loans back with interest. He also says that he and Kilguss had tried to get Demers to fire Barker after Demers' money was stolen but that Demers insisted that she remain because she was contrite and would make restitution.

Nov. 13, 2003: Hogan files her guardian ad litem's report with Judge White, blaming the DEA and the state of the laws in Rhode Island for what has happened to Demers. She says that if anyone is appointed guardian of Demers, it should be Kilguss.

Dec. 18, 2003: At the request of Demers' lawyers, Judge White enters an order placing all "financial and confidential health care information" of Beatrice Demers under seal.

March 4, 2004: R.J. Connelly's petition for guardianship is denied and he is ordered to file an accounting by April 9. Judge White also orders a forensic accounting by an independent CPA.

April 13, 2004: Connelly is charged with drunken driving and assaulting Cranston police officers after his car strikes a utility pole.

April 14, 2004: A lawyer for Connelly moves to extend the deadline for filing his accounting, because of "personal family issues."

Aug. 10, 2004: Paula Goldman, Demers' temporary guardian for health-care matters, writes a letter to Judge White asking for permission to hire Chava Cohen, a retired nurse who lives in California, to be a live-in caregiver for Demers.

Aug. 14, 2004: Cohen arrives in Rhode Island.

Aug. 17, 2004: Demers has a psychotic episode and is hospitalized.

Sept. 10, 2004: Demers is hospitalized again.

Dec. 20, 2004: Two weeks after her dismissal as a caregiver for Demers, Chava Cohen makes out an affidavit excoriating Goldman and the treatment of Beatrice Demers and sends copies to Judge White, the Alliance for Better Long Term Care, the DEA and one of Demers' lawyers. Getting no response, Cohen says, she sends a copy to the Rhode Island attorney general's office.

Jan. 14, 2005: Parmelee sends a letter to Judge White objecting to Goldman's remaining as one of Demers' guardians.

April 16-17, 2005: A theater group in Hudson Valley, N.Y., stages a reading of The Cat Lady, a play written by Paula Goldman's husband, Matthew Goldman.

May 26, 2005: Demers' lawyers agree to let Paula Goldman remain Demers' guardian for health-care decisions provided the Goldmans assign the copyright of The Cat Lady to Demers' trust.

June 1, 2005: The Alliance for Better Long Term Care writes to Judge White objecting to Goldman's appointment as Demers' permanent guardian for health care matters, because of The Cat Lady.

June 16, 2005: Goldman voluntarily withdraws her petition to be named Demers' permanent guardian for health care. One of Demers' lawyers praises her for her "yeoman efforts" while serving as temporary guardian.

July 21, 2005: A prosecutor from the attorney general's office asks Judge White to unseal the court file in the Demers case, saying he wants to investigate alleged improprieties involving Barker, Connelly and Goldman. A nurse selected by The Alliance For Better Long Term Care, Susan Hall, is appointed to replace Goldman as overseer of Demers' health care.

Sept. 29, 2005: The attorney general's office reaches an agreement with Demers' lawyers that will allow a prosecutor to comb through health-care and financial records relating to Demers without unsealing the court file.