Sutter Says:
That he has been in a wheelchair, at least since 1992:
"I have fought this battle every day since early in 1992. No matter what the weather was, I was demanding ADA compliance. Many times I was out in my wheelchair in pouring rain or 20 below zero weather, taking measurments or pictures of inaccessible areas. It takes much more than weather to stop me."
(source)
And again: (source)
"Despite all this, I strap on my wheelchair and portable respirator each day and
go about my ministry work.. My doctors tell me that I will most probably die soon, because my heart has
been damaged too far to repair."
Sutter was claiming to be wheelchair bound in 1995, which is when he made these claims. He had been telling two different stories about his disabilities, one involving severe disease and the other concerning injuries suffered while earning Purple Hearts. However, the Phony Rev came up with a new story in 1998, when he told an Ohio Senate Judiciary committee (in his role as "head" of a bogus prison ministry) that he was put "in a wheelchair for life" by a drunk driver shortly after getting out of prison in 1996 (Dayton Daily News, 1-29-1998).
We could find no record that such an accident had taken place, much less that Sutter was injured in this fashion. Neither was there any civil action filed, which is almost certain to have been the case given the fact that Sutter had filed a half dozen lawsuits the previous year over far more petty matters.
It would be truly remarkable if Sutter just happened to have wound up with an actual wheelchair disability only months after claiming a phony one. Even more spectacular, however, is the miraculous comeback that he apparently made only a few years later. A picture that he briefly posted on his own site six years after testifying that he was paralyzed "for life" shows him standing and looking quite well (and with a healthy tan in place of a respirator).
The picture is dated 2005 and, given the weight that he is carrying, it simply would not be possible for him to have been paralyzed. In fact, according to the people who know him today, Sutter is quite capable of walking. From what we understand, his only real physical disabilities are obesity-related. The odor that he is said to emit is perfectly containable with proper bathing.
Keep in mind also that Sutter was convicted of submitting forged medical records to a federal judge in 1996, since there were no doctors willing to testify under oath as to his "disabilities."