Lawyer Says Mother Had Arrest Record

A woman whose daughters were spirited away to Florida by their father nearly 20 years ago was twice convicted of drunken driving in the late 1970s, according to court documents released by the man’s lawyer. Stephen Fagan’s lawyer released the records in an attempt to prove that Barbara Kurth was an alcoholic who endangered her daughters. Kurth has denied the accusations, but her lawyer did not return phone calls seeking comment. Fagan, 56, has admitted that in 1979 he took his daughters, Lisa, then 2, and Rachael, then 5, from Massachusetts to Florida, where he established a new life under the name Dr. William Martin. He was arrested April 16 at a mansion in West Palm Beach, Fla. and charged with kidnapping. The Vermont court records produced by his lawyer show Kurth was arrested twice for drunken driving before Fagan took the girls to Florida.