This is not exactly a Golden Girls moment.
A 98 year old woman facing a grand jury in Massachusetts was indicted yesterday in the case of her room-mate, a 100 year old woman who was found strangled to death with a plastic bag placed over her head.
Laura Lundquist and Elizabeth Barrow roomed together at the Brandon Woods nursing home in Dartmouth, Mass. They had had some arguments before, concerning space and placement of furniture in their shared room.
The center of the argument at the time of Barrow's death concerned a small table that Lindquist had placed at the bottom of Barrow's bed. Barrow asked for the table to be removed and it was, by a health aide. Linquist punched the aide for moving the table and remarked that she would outlive her room-mate. Barrow had repeatedly stated that Lindquist made her life terrible. However, according to the nursing home, Barrow had declined two offers to change rooms. Her son told reporters that the reason Barrow wanted to remain in the room was that it was the very room she lived in with her husband for several years, before his death in 2007. Linquist had moved in with her after his death.
It is common practice that the person complaining about a nursing home room-mate is the one to switch rooms. Lindquist had made no such complaints but Barrow's son said he made repeated complaints to the nursing home administration regarding recurring "harassment" from Lindquist toward Barrow.
Lindquist's attorney has argued against an indictment, saying his client suffers from dementia.
Nursing homes offer semi-private rooms, for the most part, since private rooms are very costly. While most room-mates get on quite well (and admissions staff make an effort to match them up, taking into account their cultural, religious, and occupational backgrounds as well as their ages) there can be times when it's simply not a good match. The complainant is normally the one to change rooms or they work out their differences and remain together. In this case, something went terribly wrong.
Tell Us
What do you make of this case? Do you think dementia is grounds for an acquittal if the defendant proved over and over to having harassed her room-mate? If found guilty, what do you think her sentence should be, given her advanced age? Have you or a loved one had problems with nursing home room-mate assignments?
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Add a Comment3 Comments
This is such a sad story. And it goes to show that at any age, people can snap. Yes, it's murder, and she'll need to stand trial and, if convicted, suffer whatever consequences are appropriate. But I have to wonder if she was in her right mind at the time.
I cannot even imagine the pain of the family members who lost their 100-year-old mother/grandmother/aunt in this horrible fashion. And I am sure that the son, who repeatedly asked for some generosity for his mother in terms of remaining in her longtime room, is in a great deal of anguish over this whole thing.
I hope that something is changed in a system that allows -- you could even argue that it encourages -- unhappy roommates to stay together. Especially when family members are asking for help.
December 15, 2009 - 8:30amThis Comment
Wow--I'm not really sure what to think. I am sure the 98 year old woman had far more than just Dementia alone but I don't know about acquitting her-- it's still murder and someone's got to pay. I have to admit that although she murdered her room mate I do have a heavy heart for her and even more so for the victim and her family.
I have to agree with Alison about there having to be a change in the system in general. When I was a nursing student I remember two of my mental patients were constantly fighting because one would "bully" the other. But when one is schizophrenic and the other is bipolar and both are on the severe scale the best thing to do, in my opinion, is to not only split them up but to give them their own room. The problem in that unit was that there was no room to split them up and if the bully didn't pick on her she would just pick on her next room mate. It's sad. But if the 98 year old DOES get acquitted, I hope that the system at least makes a change in honor of the victim.
December 14, 2009 - 4:37amThis Comment
I am very interested to read what other's opinions are of this story, as I had not heard of this occurring. It did strike me as similar to being "bullied", which is receiving more thoughtful attention and proactive changes in schools, and perhaps this is what "good" can come from this awful situation. Of course it makes sense for the complainant to be the one to change rooms, but since there was a valid reason for her not to want to change (living in same room as her deceased husband), there should be room for flexibility in the system, and not have the burden of change on the person-being-bullied, but have the person who is doing the bullying and harassment take responsibility for changing behavior or being moved to an undesirable location...mental illness or not.
December 13, 2009 - 7:31pmThis Comment