"She believed you," Arthur said, welling with disgust and emotion. But "everything about you has been a lie ... Everything has changed because of you."

Minutes later, Jasmine Eskridge, 22, turned from her public defender to face 81-year-old Josephine Hagen, who sat quietly, dressed in a white blouse and dark jacket that contrasted with her silver hair.

"You have been nothing but nice to me," Eskridge told Hagen. "I hurt you. I am very sorry. Whatever I get today, I deserve it. I will never do nothing like this again to nobody."

This day in court was one of the final scenes in a slowly unfolding nightmare that cost Hagen dearly in the last years of her life.

Mall walker

Hagen grew up on a small farm run by her Sicilian parents near what's now Olin-Turville Park. She married a master mason, who built their home off Atwood Avenue. She spent years caring for him after he suffered a stroke. She had managed alone for nearly two decades after his death.

Over time, Hagen became a mall walker, strolling for exercise with other senior citizens at East Towne Mall. The mall was the backdrop for her chance encounter with Eskridge one winter day in early 2006.

As they sat on a bench in the mall, Eskridge told Hagen of leaving Chicago to escape an abusive family and of starting anew in Madison. Before long, they became "friends."

Eskridge persuaded Hagen to cover security deposits and co-sign leases on two apartments. Eskridge and her boyfriend failed to pay rent, got evicted and trashed the places.

Hagen co-signed a loan for Eskridge to buy a 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and another loan to get a Dodge Neon for Eskridge's boyfriend.

Later, Hagen said she thought she had been signing character references.

After Eskridge's scams were exposed, the businesses still tried to make Hagen pay the bills. The car dealer eventually took the vehicles back, but one of the landlords is still pursuing about $4,000 in rent and damages.

She lost independence

Jean Arthur, who was close to her mother but believed Hagen could manage her own affairs, knew nothing about Eskridge until her mom called about $800 in charges on a never-used credit card. The police got involved.

The relationship with Eskridge began a downward spiral for Hagen. She lost her financial independence, had to stop driving and ended her mall walking. She moved from her home, first to an apartment, and then to a nursing home where she declined in a battle with brain cancer. She died on Oct. 21.

Eskridge was sentenced to a year in jail and four years of probation. The judge ordered her to have no contact with Hagen and to pay full restitution — relatively severe for a first-time offender in a hard-to-prove case, Assistant District Attorney Ann Sayles said.

Such cases are challenging because it's legal to ask for and take money from another, as long as there's no undue influence and the victim is mentally competent. Eskridge, in fact, only faced charges for forging checks for a relatively small sum of money, theft of identity and bail jumping.

Despite her apologies to Hagen at sentencing, Eskridge didn't report to jail, but got caught, and is now serving time in the Dane County Jail, eligible for work-release privileges in the spring.

It all leaves Arthur bitter about her mom's final months. "It's such a sad ending," she said. "I'm so angry at Jasmine for making the end to her life a sad story."