What readers are saying about Justice Denied
Mensa Bulletin, March 2006
Now here's a down-and-dirty book about private and political corruption in the Florida Panhandle.
The "He-Coon" is former U.S. Congressman Bob Sikes and the author's father. Stop me if you've heard this one before: As Bob's
mind begins to suffer the slow onset of Alzheimer's, he marries his third, much younger wife, who - with the help of his former
'friends,' including his doctor, his secretary and the town mayor - takes him for everything he's got.
As Bob's children and grandchildren wage a decade-long court battle to reclaim his belongings, they soon learn that political power
and money take precedence over evidence, legal precedents and charges of perjury. To explain her motivation for writing about her
family's tribulations, Bobbye writes, "I wrote this book to provide insight for other children of aging parents whose lives are
deteriorating, and to alert them to potential legal problems; how the justice system does - and does not - work. Not all judges are
created equal; judges may be unelected, unaccountable, inexpert and unconscionable. And it was written for my children, with
thanks for elevating the gene pool and apologies for leaving them only memories."
It's a tragic and all-too-common experience that must be publicized until judicial action is taken to correct it.
Tom Elliott, Book Review Editor
l4R Russell St.
Waltham, MA 02453-8505
James Keir Baughman, Author of Villages by an Emerald Sea
Your writing is fresh and entertaining with a plethora of legally annoted detail and proof. It should make some of our local lawyers
and judges cringe with shame. But it probably won't...far too many of them don't give a crap about integrity!
The story is one of the most painful I have ever read. Likely because I knew Bob and liked him so well. And because I know
personally what a huge factor he was in the growth and development of our area. If one of us called Bob's office and asked for
something...it was done if, it was possible for Bob Sikes to get it done. And he most often did. As FWB/Destin Chamber Director
my mother worked closely for 14 years with Bob and Alma.
In spite of his human faults you can be immensely proud of the truly excellent elected official Bob Sikes was and of his great
accomplishments. The story, though, certainly reminds that the human faults of even great achievers can bring one to ruin in times
of vulnerability.
...this book is four very important things.
First. . .it is vital, well documented, history of Okaloosa County, which must be retained, available and read by as many people in
Northwest Florida as you can reach...
Second. . . it contains such a vital portrayal and description of the onset and consequences of Alzheimer's disease. . .even in a
famous and accomplished person... that it should be widely read nationally...
Third. . it is a vital (and sickening) portrayal, description, and severe warning of what happens when "gold diggers" gain control of
an Alzheimers patient's financial affairs.
Fourth. . .it is also a sickening portrayal and carefully annotated description of the awful failures and even dishonesty of Florida
judges, lawyers, and state agencies . . .
Justice Denied. The destruction of the life and legacy of the He-Coon
Reviewed by John Mochan, Vice-President, Northwest Florida Mensa
Justice Denied by Bobbye Sikes Wicke is a heads-up to families of the failing and vulnerable elderly, and anyone who believes that justice
is blind. The He-Coon is former U. S. Congressman Robert L. F. Sikes, once the most powerful figure in Florida’s Panhandle, now just a name
on a bridge, a library, a school and in history books.
When Congressman Sikes died with a diagnosis of malnutrition and a new secret will surfaced, his daughter retraced his final years and the
hijacking of his estate by his new, much younger third wife. She found that during the dark, helpless final years of his long bout with
Alzheimer’s disease, Bob Sikes was deprived of medical care, isolated from friends and family, and threatened with being sent to a nursing
home if he didn’t behave - which made him cry. During his incompetence, his wife secretly transferred his assets into her name - with the
help of her sister, Bob Sikes’ secretary, his doctor (now a state senator) and the town mayor. During a decade of court battles, the children
and grandchildren of the He-Coon learned that despite copious documentation of evidence, records, and perjury, and despite legal
precedents and statutes, justice follows political connections and deep pockets.
Justice Denied chronicles first the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease: the often overlooked early warning signs of personality changes such as
paranoia and irrational anger; the confusion and forgetfulness that are often concealed by the victim out of embarrassment and worry over
what’s happening to him; and the disease’s progressive destruction of the victim’s mind, marked by his irreversible descent into total
dependence upon his caretakers. Sikes’ medical records, the methodical transfer of his assets during his incompetence, and the subsequent
long legal proceedings are documented.
The exploitation of the vulnerable victims of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias had been addressed in courts worldwide, and the
family of Bob Sikes believed that precedents and the evidence would prevail. They expected a skirmish leading to a fair and amicable
settlement, but they encountered guerilla warfare initiated long before Sikes died. The author wrote, “We were treated as if we were the
defendants by courts that were at best indifferent, at worst kangaroo courts or star chambers.”
Why did the author wait so long to publish her story? Wicke says she began writing it in 1983 when her father asked her to move to his
hometown to edit his autobiography. She found an angry, often confused, and paranoid man, a very different man from the father she
thought she knew. Deeply disturbed and saddened by his behavior, she finished the job and left in 1986. She began writing again when,
upon viewing his desiccated body, she realized that he had starved to death over a long period despite his third wife’s claims of his good
appetite, good health, and good medical care right up to his death. During her investigation and the subsequent legal proceedings, the
author filled nine file drawers with medical, legal and court records and wrote several hundred pages which seriously needed editing - a task
she kept postponing because the memories were so painful. Then, early in 2005, faced with cervical spine surgery, she set a book completion
deadline of March 1 and a surgery date of March 21. She reports that keeping both dates cured years of pain.
The boldness of the persons depicted in this book not only surprised me but also made me look over my shoulder much more than before. It
really makes one wonder just who can be trusted in times of need. It also points out the requirement to pre-plan well in advance of when you
think it is needed. And, even then, things may not work out as you would have liked.
365 pp., pb. publ. Blacknblue Press, March 2007, ISBN 0-9677652-6-9.
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