O/T Beauty queens tries to kill hubby with Viagra?
AGC Queen
By Amy Silverman
Celia "CeCe" Margaret Doane is best known for her 1971 Miss Arizona title and
the Rolls-Royce she drives around Paradise Valley, but the town's police also
know her for her frequent calls -- sometimes to 911, often to Police Chief John
Wintersteen on his cell phone or at home.
When a housekeeper for Celia Doane called Wintersteen last September and told
him Doane had tried to hire her to kill James Doane, Celia's husband,
Wintersteen took note.
"Knowing what I do about the Doan's [sic] marital situation, I immediately
recognized that Mrs. Doan had a motive," Wintersteen wrote in a November 10
dispatch included in the latest Paradise Valley police report on the Doanes. A
stack of several reports dating back to the early '90s details domestic
squabbles at the Doanes' residence. It's noted often in the reports that Celia
apparently had been drinking. There are allegations in the reports of violent
behavior on the part of both Celia and James.
This latest, lengthy report details Celia Doane's alleged plot and her supposed
murder weapon of choice: Viagra.
If the report is accurate, Celia Doane spent days planning how to overdose her
husband -- who has a bad heart -- with a drug she knew could kill him.
And now one of Celia's ex-husbands has told police she tried to have him
murdered, too.
James Doane refused to comment on the Viagra case, or any other aspect of the
couple's relationship or pending legal issues.
"It would probably be better if I didn't [speak] at this time. That's an
ongoing police investigation," James told New Times last week. ". . . If you've
had access to the public records, then you've really got the story. I don't
think that there's anything more that I can add."
Celia Doane is out of town seeking "therapy," according to her mother, Lillian
Sklan. "My God, that's ridiculous," she says when asked about the Viagra case.
Celia's attorney, Larry Debus, calls the Paradise Valley police investigation
"incomplete," adding, "We're conducting our own investigation."
Paradise Valley police provided New Times with a copy of the report, but
refused to comment further and would not offer access to transcripts of phone
calls and other conversations taped by police and witnesses in which Doane
allegedly admits to the plot. The tapes are mentioned in the report; Paradise
Valley police Lieutenant Ron Warner -- who serves as the department's spokesman
and also took part in the Doane investigation -- says he was not allowed to
give New Times transcripts. The police department also blacked out some names,
including the name of its key witness, who has agreed to testify in court if
necessary, according to the report. For the purposes of this story, we'll call
her Mary. The following is based on Mary's account to police.
On September 19, Celia Doane had lunch with Mary at Houston's restaurant in
Scottsdale. Doane told Mary she was looking for some Viagra.
From the police report: "Celia related that her husband Jim has a prostrate
[sic] problem and would like to try the Viagra to see if they would help.
"Celia was insistent on getting the Viagra as soon as possible because they
were going to Sedona for the weekend to try and save their marriage and Celia
wanted to have the Viagra to use for the weekend. [Mary] told Celia that she
could get a prescription from her [Doane's] doctor and order the Viagra over
the Internet."
Doane persisted, until Mary agreed to try to get some Viagra from her own
husband's supply.
The next morning, Mary came to Doane's home and gave her eight Viagra pills
wrapped in tissue. Doane put them in her purse, then asked Mary about the
dosage. She was told James should take one at a time and no more than two
within a four-hour period.
And Mary had a warning for Doane: Don't give the Viagra to James if he has a
heart condition, she told her. It could kill him. Doane assured Mary that James
had no such troubles.
A day later, the report continues, Doane told Mary she wanted to use the Viagra
to kill James. She asked how many it would take to kill him. She asked Mary to
come to the Doanes' Sedona home and put the Viagra in James' coffee -- two
pills in each cup he drank. Doane offered Mary a house in Scottsdale in
exchange.
Mary tried to talk Doane out of it, and looked for the Viagra she had given
Celia -- unsuccessfully. In the following days, Mary told police, Doane
continued to speak of killing James and also of planting cocaine in a vehicle
often driven by a business associate of James', and of having the associate
killed.
Mary called the police chief on September 27.
When the police contacted James Doane two days later -- advising him to cease
contact with his wife -- he confirmed that his wife had been pressuring him to
go to Sedona with her. He confirmed that he has prostate problems. But Doane
also told police that, contrary to what Celia had allegedly told Mary, he has a
serious heart condition -- of which Celia is well aware. James had heart bypass
surgery several years ago and had a negative reaction to Viagra in the past.
James also told police that Celia had recently begun asking him repeatedly
about his estate, and what would happen to it if he died. He explained that if
he died, she would get everything, and that if the two divorced she would get
nothing, because of a post-nuptial agreement.
Throughout this time described in the November police report, Celia continued
to phone the PV police. On one occasion, she told Chief Wintersteen she didn't
want to kill James -- prompting police to wonder if she was trying to establish
an alibi. More than once, she told police Mary was a "Hells Angel girl" trying
to blackmail her.
James Doane subsequently moved out of the house. Celia went to The Meadows in
Wickenburg, a residential treatment center for substance abuse, according to
paperwork in a civil lawsuit she's filed against James. She claims physical and
mental abuse. He has filed his own civil suit alleging that she tried to have
him killed and that she set fire to their home. In addition, the Doanes have
filed for divorce.
The Paradise Valley Police Department referred several potential charges
against Celia Doane, including "solicitation to commit murder" and "conspiracy
to commit murder," to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. County Attorney
spokesman Bill FitzGerald acknowledges that the charges are under
investigation.
Celia Doane, who is now in her early 50s, was married several times before she
wed James Doane in 1992. Two of her previous husbands were in law enforcement.
Steve Twist, the first, served as first assistant attorney general under
Arizona Attorney General Bob Corbin, and ran unsuccessfully for attorney
general himself in 1990. And before James Doane, there was Chuck Leidner, a
onetime district attorney in Aspen, Colorado, who earlier, as a public
defender, once represented serial killer Ted Bundy.
James Kenneth Doane's background is in real estate and business. In his
mid-60s, he lists his occupation as "retired." Doane's late father, James M.
Doane, was a Hollywood agent whose clients included Agnes Moorehead (Endora on
Bewitched), Irene Ryan (Granny Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies) and the
legendary Lionel Barrymore. James K. is an expert on the life and art of
Barrymore. One of his prized possessions is a box of gold plates Barrymore used
to make prints.
Celia and James settled in Paradise Valley and became active in several
charities, recalls Danny Medina, the colorful gossip columnist who catalogues
the activities of PV and Scottsdale socialites in his monthly newspaper Trends.
Less than two years after the Doanes were married, they were the victims of a
high-profile home invasion. Celia and James were bound with their heads
covered, and the robbers stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in possessions,
including Celia's 9.37 carat, $74,000 diamond ring and James' $44,000 Patek
Philippe watch. The crime remains unsolved.
The case was a favorite of the national media -- everyone from Penthouse to
20/20 wanted to describe the gruesome details, in which Celia and James were
taken into separate rooms and -- upon hearing a gun fire -- were told the other
had been killed.
In 1994, not long after the home invasion, the Doane home was featured in a
lengthy style article in the Arizona Republic, which described the 2,800 square
feet of marble floors, the refrigerated three-car garage and James' collection
of Hollywood memorabilia from his father, including a silver cigar humidor from
Clark Gable and, according to James, the only portrait John Barrymore ever sat
for. The Doanes' art collection included a bust sculpted by a student of
Michelangelo.
In recent years, the Doanes have slipped from the social scene, Danny Medina
says. Celia and Medina were never close, the columnist acknowledges, but he's
kept tabs on her, noting her strange behavior in his column -- including the
time she showed up at the tony Heart Ball with what appeared to be a bodyguard.
Over the years, Medina started seeing Doane less and less at charity functions,
he says, and heard she was frequenting nightclubs and bars instead. In her
early 50s, the former beauty queen is still beautiful, Medina acknowledges, but
was out of place amid the younger set who do the Scottsdale bar scene. "We used
to call her the Resident Granny," he says.
Public records indicate that the Doane marriage was troubled almost from the
start. In 1994, police arrested both Celia and James in a domestic violence
dispute, in which James admitted to police that he had struck Celia. In 1996,
the couple filed for divorce, but ultimately withdrew the petition and a
post-nuptial agreement was signed, allowing that Celia would get nothing if
they divorced.
The police reports slowed until last fall, when the alleged Viagra murder plot
arose, quickly followed by several other incidents in October, according to
reports: Celia allegedly stole James' gold Barrymore plates, was arrested for
punching her grown daughter in the stomach and, according to James, set fire to
their opulent home.
Celia Doane allegedly approached Mary about the Viagra in late September, and
by the end of the month, James had been warned by police.
According to the police report, James told Celia in early October that he
wanted to retrieve his plates (which he values at $150,000) and other personal
items from the house. She told him the plates had been stolen. Celia called
Paradise Valley Police Chief Wintersteen on October 13 to tell him she believed
a Swedish friend who stayed at her home had taken them.
But in the report, a witness whose name is blacked out tells police Celia asked
the witness to bring the plates to Celia's mother's home in Scottsdale for
safekeeping. Police retrieved the plates and saved them as evidence.
Early on October 14, Rural/Metro firefighters responded to a fire at the Doane
residence. The fire had apparently started in the garage; when firefighters
arrived, Celia was trying to catch her pets and said she had no idea how the
fire had started.
In a signed statement to police, James recounts a phone call he received from
Celia at 4 a.m. October 14: "[She] telephoned to tell me, 'I've set the house
on fire.' I didn't believe her and told her she should go to bed. . . . I said,
'Good night, Cece' and hung up. At around 7:00 AM, her youngest daughter,
Sarah, called and said, 'You need to come up here. Mother has burned up the
garages.' Upon my arrival, I was quite saddened to see that almost all of my
family's photographs, mementos, and papers were burned. I entered the house in
tears and was met by Cece's mother who told me, 'Cece just started a little
fire, only a few things were burned. They're just things anyway. No one was
hurt.' Cece was sitting on the sofa displaying the demeanor of a drunk. I was
so emotionally assaulted, I told her mother to shut up and I left . . ."
Damage was contained mainly to the garage.
Later that day, Paradise Valley police were called to the house, arrested Celia
and booked her at Madison Street Jail after she allegedly punched 21-year-old
Sarah Leidner in the stomach, after her daughter tried to take a glass of wine
away from her. On the way to jail, Celia tried to bribe police to expedite her
booking, according to the police report. No charges have been filed.
Days after the fire, Paradise Valley police contacted Chuck Leidner, Celia
Doane's ex-husband. Leidner declined an interview request from New Times, but
spoke to police. According to Leidner's account, described in the report, "In
October of 1987, Celia had hired a known convicted murderer . . . to kill
Leidner for the sum of $10,000."
Because the event happened so long ago, the Arapahoe County Sheriff in Colorado
had no record of Leidner reporting this information, the PV police wrote.
"Leidner also related that Celia had taken some of his clothes and personal
pictures of his family and burned them in the fireplace while he was at work."
There is no police report on that incident, either.
The similarities are remarkable, particularly in the descriptions of the fires
set to personal belongings. Again, Celia Doane could not be reached for
comment, as she is out of town getting "therapy," as her mother, Lillian Sklan,
explains.
Celia's opinions about James are obvious in a civil lawsuit she filed against
her current husband November 3. In it, she accuses him of physical and verbal
abuse, and of encouraging her to drink when he knew she was an alcoholic.
From the complaint: "All his conduct was designed to cause her to lose her
self-esteem, to be unable to function and become a virtual chattle [sic] of
James Kenneth Doane."
Sklan echoes those sentiments.
"My daughter has spent nine years with this man almost drinking herself to
death," she says. ". . . This man has tried to kill my daughter."
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