Former Holy Cross Catholic Church business manager Deborah True now faces a decade in state prison, followed by 20 years of probation during which she will be expected to pay the church back $698,000 in purloined funds donated by parishioners to the Central Beach church.
Dressed casually, almost disrespectfully so for court, in stretchy leggings and a sheer, flowy blouse, True appeared slightly perturbed about having to turn up in person for the proceedings, as if the event was interrupting her new life – the life she made for herself and her adult son after retiring from the local diocese in 2020 and moving out of state.
True, 72, flew in from Frederick, Colo., where she’s been living – out free on bond since her arrest in September 2022 – in a $550,000 house she purchased in Colorado’s Weld County, a sparsely populated area 30 miles north of Denver.
In court, she changed her not guilty plea to one of “no contest” to a “First-Degree Grand Theft, $100,000 or more, pursuant to a scheme or course of conduct.” In a conversation in the corridor after the hearing before Circuit Court Judge Robert Meadows, True bristled at having to spend time in Vero going over necessary legal paperwork, and was overheard saying, “I have a plane to catch.”
Judge Dan Vaughn, who presided over the case until he retired and Meadows took over the felony criminal docket in January 2024, had agreed to defense attorney Andrew Metcalf’s request to waive True’s court appearances, so True did not have to travel to Vero Beach for her hearings to continue the case every 90 days or so.
A lifelong Catholic and graduate of John Carroll Catholic High School in Fort Pierce, perhaps Vaughn showed compassion for the woman who worked for the church for 35 years and cared for the infirm former Holy Cross pastor Fr. Richard Murphy until his death in March 2020.
But despite True’s contention that her mentally challenged adult son needed her, Meadows, a former long-time Sheriff’s deputy, dealt with True like any other local defendant charged with a serious felony, who could be deemed a flight risk due to living outside Florida. Since April 2024, Meadows has required True to accompany Metcalf to court for hearings.
Last week, Meadows ran through the litany of required questions with True – her level of education, did she read and understand English, has she been well-represented by defense counsel and did counsel explain all of her options, did she understand that she was waiving her right to a jury trial – but he repeated one portion more than once for emphasis.
Did she understand that the charges against her carry a maximum of 30 years in a Florida prison and a $10,000 fine? Did she understand that if she failed to appear in court for sentencing, the judge might impose the full 30-years sentence?
Yes, True said, she understood all of that.
“Are you entering this plea because you are guilty, or because you feel it’s in your best interest?”
Meadows asked.
“It’s in my best interest,” True responded.
After asking several additional questions to ensure True was aware of the rights she was giving up by changing her plea and giving her the opportunity to ask any last-minute questions, Meadows asked the attorneys, “Is there a stipulation as to the factual basis for the plea?” to which Assistant State Attorney Bill Long replied, “There is, your honor.”
Then Meadows accepted the change of plea and Metcalf said, “Judge, we are requesting a pre-sentence investigation and a sentencing date of July 18.”
Long confirmed that the July 18 date would afford the probation officer the 30 to 45 days needed to complete the investigation, and Meadows set the sentencing for 9 a.m.
Metcalf had apparently tried to prolong the sentencing date when True will be shackled and taken into custody past mid-July, as he had informed True before the hearing began that “July 18th is as late as they (the prosecutor) will go.”
The Pre-Sentence Investigation, or PSI, report the probation officer produces, gives the judge information to weigh during sentencing, including criminal history, the defendant’s background, education, family relationships, history of mental illness or substance abuse, and financial situation. It also discusses the nature of the crime and who the victims are.
While this report is underway, the State Attorney’s Office typically collects and compiles statements from the defendant’s victims.
In off-the-record conversations with prominent longtime parishioners of Holy Cross, it was evident that – after the initial news broke of True’s arrest – the faithful have not been kept abreast of progress in the case and were not aware True was changing her plea before it was reported in the May 1 issue of Vero Beach 32963.
They were unaware of the nuts and bolts of how True stole nearly $700,000 donated by thousands of members of the church, or that she and the late Fr. Richard Murphy had opened a separate bank account at PNC Advisors in 2012 – an off-book account not reported to the parish council or to the Diocese of Palm Beach – and that over the years Murphy and True had skimmed $1.46 million from the collection plate and from bequests of cash and securities into that account.
Regarding the motive for crimes charged, one member said the going hypothesis among some parishioners is that the hundreds of thousands of dollars given to True were intended as a nestegg, to purchase a residence where True and Murphy could live out their golden years together after they both retired. Murphy died in March 2020 in hospice care, however, and was unable to see the plan through.
Court records show Murphy and True were each others’ constant dinner companions and vacationed out of state together on multiple occasions, sometimes in rented accommodations and other times hosted by parishioners in their Northern homes.
In police interviews preceding her arrest, True admitted to taking more than $9,000 Murphy kept in cash at the rectory – at Murphy’s behest – to pay off some of True’s debt. True closed the off-book PNC bank account “to protect Fr. Murphy,” she told police, and she retired from the church a few months after Murphy’s death.
True repeatedly told police detectives Murphy was “generous to a fault,” and that he used the secret account to give bonuses and to help people out under the table – with True being the top beneficiary. Police documented $698,000 that True got from 2015-2020, but could not dig back further as the older bank records had already been destroyed by PNC.
True told police she felt the church money was Murphy’s to spend however he wanted, and only through the process of being interrogated about the use of the secret account did she break down and admit that the donated funds in fact belonged to the church. Then True was shocked when Vero Beach Police Det. Kyle Eder told her she would be arrested.
Fr. Murphy was very secretive about how he handled church finances, they said, but all that has changed. Universally, they praised the new pastor, Fr. Tom Barrett and vicar Fr. Serge Dubé for ushering in a new age of transparency and renewal in the parish.
Hopefully the events of the past few years have also sparked a renewed vigor in the people serving on the Parish Council and the Diocese of Palm Beach to keep a much closer eye on church finances and on staff with access to church funds. Murphy and True worked together as priest and bookkeeper or business manager at two Treasure Coast churches since 1985, transferring to Vero as a package deal in 1997.
It’s unknown if True faces any sort of federal tax charges or implications due to the stolen church funds, as much of the money was transferred electronically, directly from the church PNC account to pay off True’s retail creditors and lines of credit, never hitting True’s personal bank account.
True told police she and Murphy did this to avoid setting off alarm bells with her own bank because the transfers often exceeded the $10,000 range and her bank would need to report the deposit to the Internal Revenue Service. True was also paid more than $553,000 from the PNC account via check as bonuses or small payments for extra duties like organizing weddings, but it’s unclear if any payroll taxes were deducted or paid.
Victims who wish to file a statement for the record or to speak at the July 18 sentencing hearing should contact Assistant State Attorney Bill Long at the Vero Beach office of State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl.
