BOSTON -- Stephen Fagan's attorney and two daughters will meet Monday with Middlesex District Attorney Thomas Reilly to discuss a deal in which Fagan would plead guilty to parental kidnapping charges but escape jail time.
The proposal, which sources said is likely to be accepted, would mark an abrupt turnaround from the public stance of prosecutors who had pledged to bring the case to trial.
But faced with the daughters' unwavering support for Fagan -- who took the children from their mother 19 years ago and raised them under new identities in Florida -- prosecutors felt that they would have a difficult time persuading a judge or jury that Fagan deserved to be jailed, sources said.
The session between Fagan's daughters and prosecutors will follow an 11 a.m. meeting in which Barbara Kurth, the girls' mother and Fagan's former wife, will be updated by Reilly, the outgoing D.A.; his successor, Martha Coakley; and Assistant D.A. Lynn Rooney, who is prosecuting the case.
Fagan has argued that he felt compelled to take the girls, then 5 and 2 years old, from Kurth, whom he described as an alcoholic and a neglectful mother. He told the girls, Rachael and Lisa, that their mother had died in a car accident.
In Florida, Fagan changed his name to William Martin, married two wealthy women and lived a luxurious life as a social-climbing socialite who passed himself off as a consultant and CIA agent. However, Fagan does not appear to have worked since he fled Massachusetts.
Fagan, 56, was arrested April 16 at his oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach.
Kurth, who adamantly rejects her former husband's portrayal of her as an unfit mother, has not seen her daughters since Fagan's arrest. They have refused to visit her while charges are pending against their father.
Kurth, 48, is a molecular biologist at the University of Virginia Medical School. Her attorney, Jacob Atwood, said yesterday he was surprised by reports of a possible plea bargain.
"Lynn Rooney and I remain in close contact, and she told me repeatedly that the case is going to trial," Atwood said. "I've talked to Tom Reilly in the past, and he told me that this case would never be plea-bargained and would go to trial."
Atwood said that Fagan's attorney, Richard Egbert, recently met with Reilly and Rooney, but the meeting was not productive. Then about 10 days ago, Atwood said, Egbert asked the district attorney whether Fagan's daughters "could plead their case that they don't want their father to go to jail."
Barbara Kurth's brother, Peter, said yesterday that no one from the district attorney's office has contacted him or his sister to discuss the possible deal.
"Barbara is perfectly willing to see this go to trial. She is not frightened. But, in the end, it isn't her decision," Peter Kurth said. "Speaking for myself, there is no punishment that can fit this crime, so I'm not sure what difference going to jail would make."
Both daughters have said repeatedly they would testify for their father despite any crimes he may have committed. Barbara Kurth also made a public appeal, asking her daughters to visit when they were ready.
Last month in Florida, Fagan paid a $12,000 fine and surrendered a 1998 Honda on charges that he falsely identified himself when he registered that car and a Bentley worth more than $100,000.
Pub Date: 12/19/98