Sunday, December 13, 2009

When Grannys Go Bad

A grand jury has indicted a 98-year-old woman on a second-degree-murder charge for allegedly killing her 100-year-old roommate in a dispute over the room they shared at a nursing home in Dartmouth.

Laura Lundquist, who prosecutors believe is the oldest person ever charged with murder in Massachusetts, has been charged with strangling Elizabeth Barrow in the Brandon Woods Nursing Home on Sept. 24.
"The investigation revealed that Ms. Lundquist harbored hostility towards Ms. Barrow because because she believed Ms. Barrow was taking over the room they shared at the nursing home," Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said.

Lundquist was sent today to Taunton State Hospital for a competency evaluation prior to being arraigned. Defense attorney Carl S. Levin filed a joint motion today in Bristol Superior Court with prosecutors requesting the psychiatric evaluation for Lundquist. The motion says that Lundquist's medical records show she "has a long standing diagnosis of dementia and exhibited other erratic behaviors."

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