When companies neglect to conduct background checks on employees, too often families are left vulnerable to convicted felons.

Five years ago, Don and Terina Ferminick and their five-month-old daughter had just moved to Alameda, California, where Don took a position as a church minister. But Don's happy family was permanently scarred when Giles Nadey came to clean the carpets of the church rectory. Terina went to the rectory to pay Nadey and never returned. That evening Don went to check on her and found his wife stabbed to death and covered with blood.

Nadey was later convicted of the murder and sentenced to death. What was particularly troubling to Don Ferminick is that the horrible act might have been prevented. Had Nadey's employers bothered to run a background check, they would have learned that he had two previous felony convictions.

Two years later, in the same county, Kerry Spooner-Dean, a 30-year-old pediatrician, was viciously stabbed to death by another carpet cleaner named Jerrold Woods. Woods had eight prior convictions for armed robbery, but the carpet cleaning company never did a background check. The victim's husband recently won a $9 million judgement against the company.

SECRET HISTORIES

These brutal crimes are all too common and of course,perpetrators. Many service professionals work inside the home and potentially have criminal histories.

David Taitte is serving 25-30 years in a Nebraska prison for raping a woman after delivering a pizza to her house. When he applied for his job at Domino's, he had been in jail 16 times including once for sexual assault. Domino's, which does not require its franchise owners to do criminal background checks, settled a lawsuit with the victim.

Oakland county prosecutor Jim Anderson, whose office handled both the Ferminick and the Spooner-Dean murders, calls the issue a "no-brainer." He believes all employers who provide home services should conduct background checks and they should not hire anyone with a criminal record.

All around the country there are examples of home service companies taking on dangerous employees. In Kansas City, ex-convict Wesley Purkey was working as a plumber when he beat to death an 80-year-old woman. In California, ex-convict Mesa Kasem worked as a deliveryman for an auction house. He and an accomplice murdered one of the clients. In Pennsylvania, convicted felon John Cramer was working as a meter reader when he raped a woman in her home. In none of these cases did the employer do a criminal background check.

It is very difficult to conduct background checks on your own. Although criminal history is public information, collecting the data is arduous. Many companies are afraid of the cost of professional background checks, but the checks are relatively inexpensive. Companies can obtain a fairly thorough check of a job applicant's history for $30 to $60. The checks turn up criminal records with startling frequency -- more than one for every ten employees. At one company, 22 percent of the applicants for the job of cable TV installer come up with criminial records.

CAN THEY AFFORD NOT TO?

More and more companies that don't conduct checks have to deal with expensive lawsuits.

Arthur Von Lanier had a long criminal record when he started cleaning carpets for Sears. On the job he sexually assaulted a Maryland woman in her home in 1993. The victim filed a lawsuit against Sears Roebuck and Company, who settled on undisclosed terms and now requires background checks of all their home service workers.

In another example, Kristi Reade successfully sued the Kirby Company after a vacuum cleaner salesman sexually assaulted her eight years ago. At the time, the assailant was on probation for indecency with a child, and the independent distributor that hired him never checked his background. Kirby has modified its prior policy to require distributors to conduct background checks.

PLAYING IT SAFE

The best way to hire any type of service provider is through referrals. Before hiring workers that come into your home, talk to friends, neighbors, and the Better Business Bureau. And before signing a contract, always ask the business owners for assurance that they run background checks on their employees.

Copyright 2001 ABC News Internet Ventures.
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