Rumors of poisoning alleged at Fresno County $700K theft-from-elder trial
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- Dovali testified Rutherford spread rumors and photos were hidden, sidelining her.
- Prosecutors say Abercrombie and Teel used deception, isolation and accomplices to steal
- Defense attorney says he has affidavits and records to refute Dovali's testimony.
Stacy Hansen Dovali testified Tuesday that she was shocked when she heard her father’s caretaker accuse her of trying to kill him.
Dovali is the daughter of Randy Hansen, a Sanger businessman who died in 2020 and whose estate is at the center of a theft case being prosecuted in Fresno County Superior Court.
On trial is Dovali’s stepsister Gina Abercrombie and boyfriend Justin D. Teel, both of Pleasanton in Alameda County. They are accused of stealing more than $700,000 from Hansen and are charged with theft from an elder adult and obtaining money, labor of property by false pretenses.
If convicted, they each face more than five years in prison.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Lisa Urrizola has portrayed Abercrombie and Teel as opportunistic thieves who took advantage of an ailing Hansen, whose father developed the 18-hole Sherwood Forest Golf Club in Sanger.
Urrizola alleges the pair used deception, isolation and accomplices to finagle away nearly a million dollars from Hansen’s estate from February 9, 2017, through March 24, 2020.
One of those accomplices to the scheme was Beverly Rutherford, a house cleaner and caretaker for the victim. Rutherford was charged in 2023 with one count of theft from an elder or dependent adult by a caretaker. She has since accepted a plea deal.
Dovali testified that in 2017 her father suffered a stroke, and she stepped in to help him run the golf course. Soon after, she heard Rutherford was spreading rumors about her.
Rutherford was considered somewhat of family friend. Her husband worked at the golf course, and she helped Dovali’s grandparents around their home.
“I started hearing that she was telling people that I was trying to kill my dad, or that I was stealing things,” Dovali told the jury. ”I liked to cook for my dad, but she would say I was poisoning him. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.“
She also began to notice that photos of her and her father and photos of her children were missing, or placed where no one could see them.
Davoli, who at one time ran her own fruit and nut brokerage company, said she no longer felt comfortable at her father’s home.
Still, she testified that she helped her father with whatever he needed including taking him to his doctor appointments and physical therapy sessions.
Chuck Smith, Abercrombie’s attorney, plans to challenge Dovali’s devotion to her father.
During a break in testimony, Smith told the judge and the prosecutor that he has affidavits and financial records that will refute some of what Dovali testified to.
“I have sworn declarations that will show this witness has not been truthful,” Smith said.
The trial continues Wednesday.
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 6:43 PM.
