Father Spoke of Right to Kill Children, Jury Told

A year and a half before his bone-thin daughter died, Michael Gentry said he believed that parents had the right to kill their children if it was in everyone’s best interest, a witness testified Thursday in the Van Nuys trial of Gentry and his wife.

Monna Wagner, a former legislative aide, said Gentry came to her Palmdale office in 1994 and said “he wanted legislation that no one had the right to investigate any allegations against the family.”

“He believed that children were sent to their families by God, that parents had sole authority over their children. . . . If it was in the best interest of everyone to kill their child, they could do that,” Wagner quoted him as saying.

Michael and Kathleen “Katrina” Gentry are being retried in Los Angeles Superior Court on charges of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and conspiracy for failing to provide enough food for their daughter, Lindsay.

Lindsay, who was 4 feet, 10 inches tall, weighed 44 pounds when she died in 1996 at age 15.

She also suffered from myotonic dystrophy, a congenital disease that wasted her muscles, crooked her back and caused severe cataracts.

The prosecution contends that the Lake Los Angeles couple had abused and neglected the girl for years and that she starved to death. Defense attorneys contend that the Gentrys provided adequate food and medical care and that the girl died of her debilitating disease.

Last year, a jury deadlocked on whether the Gentrys were guilty of murder.

They have maintained their innocence, rejecting at least three proposed plea bargains, the last of which would have allowed them to go free if they admitted guilt to a charge of child endangerment. They now face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Michael Gentry sat in court Thursday with his arm around his wife, who at times looked surprised or dismayed by the testimony.

Wagner, a representative for state Sen. William “Pete” Knight (R-Palmdale) when he was an assemblyman, said she remembered her conversation with Gentry because the topic was so unusual, and she worried about its effect on Lindsay, who was present. Wagner testified that the father assured her that the girl, who was mentally retarded, could not comprehend what they were saying.

When questioned by Gentry’s attorney, Patrick Thomason, Wagner said she told sheriff’s investigators that when she saw Lindsay that day, the girl “otherwise appeared to be in good health.”

Thomason also sought to portray the conversation as a “philosophical” discussion.

Also Thursday, an expert in pediatric pathology testified that he believed “malnutrition was the thing that killed this child.”

Dr. Frank Sheridan, chief medical examiner for the San Bernardino County coroner’s office, said he formed his opinion after reviewing medical records and other information provided by the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kathleen Cady.

Myotonic dystrophy, Sheridan added, was only a “contributing cause” of the girl’s death.

The malnutrition was “due to physical abuse or neglect,” Sheridan testified. He said he saw nothing in Lindsay’s records that indicated problems with food absorption or swallowing, though he acknowledged that he hadn’t spoken with teachers or family friends who knew about the girl’s eating problems.