Aunt’s Alleged Theft Threatens to Sever Family Ties : Accusations: Deborha Franckewitz, who has been like a mother to nephew, has been charged with stealing his car and trust money.

When Channon Phipps grew ill with AIDS earlier this year, the aunt who raised him as her own helped him endure the painful complications caused by the HIV he contracted from tainted blood products.

It was during these dark moments that Deborha Jean Franckewitz often reflected that she did not know how she would continue living after her nephew’s death. “I would sell everything I own to buy him more time,” she said during a recent interview.

Phipps, a teen-age hemophiliac with AIDS who six years ago became the first California student to sue his way back to school, has considered Franckewitz his mother for as long as he can remember.

But now the woman who took him in when his real mother could no longer care for him is in the Orange County Jail, charged with stealing Phipps’ beloved Mustang and more than $54,000 in trust money awarded to the youth in a legal settlement over how he contracted the deadly virus.

Franckewitz is being held in lieu of $250,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on a grand theft charge.

Her husband, James Franckewitz, said Saturday that Deborha Franckewitz is the victim of unfounded charges. He denied that she absconded with the money and fled, contending that the couple took a pre-planned vacation and can account for nearly all of the funds.

“I love the kid, but I don’t understand how he can do this to Debbie,” Franckewitz said.

Deborha Franckewitz’s attorney, Gary Tannehill, declined to discuss the charges Saturday, but said the truth behind the allegations has not yet been made public.

“My client raised Channon for years and years and years, and he knew her as mom, and I think someone like that should be given the benefit of the doubt before (people) leap to conclusions,” Tannehill said. “And I hope people keep an open mind until all the facts are out.”

Phipps was born a hemophiliac to teen-agers struggling with drug addictions. The disease meant weekly injections of the blood product that he would learn, at age 11, gave him HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Phipps claims that his aunt convinced him that the government had liens against the money that became available to him on Nov. 1, after he turned 18. Phipps claims that Deborha Franckewitz tricked him into believing the money would be protected in an account under her name. The title to Phipps’ new car was also under Deborha Franckewitz’s name, officials said.

Phipps had recently moved in with his father, but returned to Franckewitz’s home last month to drive home his Mustang. That’s when he learned his aunt was gone with the car, officials said. He then found out his bank account was empty.

“The allegations are that the car was gone, the money was gone and she split the state,” said Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Joseph D’Agostino. Franckewitz could face as many as four years in prison if convicted, he said.

Deborha and James Franckewitz were in the Mustang on their way to visit relatives in Idaho when James Franckewitz was arrested for assault charges after a traffic dispute in which he allegedly aimed a sawed-off shotgun at a driver, officials said.

After spending $5,000 of Channon Phipps’ money to post bail for James Franckewitz, the couple returned to Laguna Hills, where Channon Phipps tracked them down to a motel, officials said. He and his friends let the air out of the Mustang’s tires as the vehicle sat in the parking lot and then called police, who arrested Deborha Franckewitz about 3 a.m. Friday, D’Agostino said.

While the criminal charges will be left for the judicial system to decide, the incident has sparked bitter accusations between Channon Phipps and Deborha Franckewitz, threatening the bond between two people who once depended solely on each other for support in a world that dealt Channon Phipps a deadly hand. He says their relationship is forever ruined.

“I’m raging at her,” he said. “I’d like to say some stuff to her that can’t be printed in a newspaper.”

The car and the trust account represent financial security for a teen who is too ill to work. But Channon Phipps said he has overcome the fatigue that was plaguing him in recent weeks, when he could do little more than sleep on his father’s couch.

“I feel better now that she’s out of my life,” he said. “I’m fine, AIDS-wise.”

Charles Phipps, Channon’s father, has accused his sister, Deborha Franckewitz, of drug abuse. James Franckewitz, who admits to having used drugs, claims that he and Deborha took their two children and left the area to get them away from Channon Phipps because of the teen-ager’s drug use.

Charles Phipps angrily denied that his son uses drugs and says he is outraged that the Franckewitzes are accusing his son of wrongdoing.

“I’m watching my son die here you know. She’s trying to see how fast she can kill him. She was hoping he would die before he could get his money,” he said, screaming in anger. Meanwhile, relatives say they are baffled by the charges.

“My sister’s gone over the edge. She’s just gone and lost her mind,” said Tammy Phipps of Boise, Ida. Tammy Phipps said she cannot take sides between her sister and her nephew, but said she believes her sister is suffering from stress and her addiction to medicine first prescribed years ago for a severe back injury.

But most of all, Tammy Phipps said, her sister is reeling from the realization that Channon Phipps is sick with a deadly illness and will someday die.

“I’m really scared for her. I don’t understand what has happened,” she said. “There is also a tragic side to this. She just can’t deal with the fact that Channon is going to die.”

During an earlier interview, Deborha Franckewitz noted that Channon Phipps has lived for several years with the deadly illness and his time might be running out.

“He’s right at that 10-year point, and it’s at the back of my mind, so I’m sure he thinks about it,” Deborha Franckewitz said earlier this year. She admits to becoming overly protective of the youth because of his illness.

“If I had my choice, Channon would live in a bubble,” she said at the time. “But he tells me, ‘Mom, you have to let me live my life.’ ”

Channon Phipps has never backed down from his illness. He does his best to act like “normal” people. When he wasn’t allowed in public school because of his HIV infection, he successfully sued the Saddleback Valley Unified School District for admittance.

He later sued and settled a lawsuit against a hospital and a physician over the transmission of the AIDS virus through blood products.

He was a year old when he became a legal ward of Deborha Franckewitz, than an 18-year-old single woman. His parents divorced and later built close relationships with their son. His mother died in August, 1990.

While Channon Phipps has put on a brave demeanor, Charles Phipps says he is devastated that the theft has ruined plans his son made for the future--while he is still healthy enough to enjoy it.

“Channon doesn’t have much time left, he doesn’t have time for this. . . . This is the most despicable thing I’ve ever heard of any human being doing to another,” he said.