Man, 79, Beaten to Death with Wheelchair

[tjcampbell]

Wow!

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Police in Puerto Rico say that an 86-year-old man who suffers from Alzheimer's disease used a wheelchair to kill another resident in a nursing home.

Police say Euricles Rivera Cales used the wheelchair's footrest to hit 79-year-old Gustavo Velez Merced in the face while he slept.

Velez was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Authorities say Rivera has not been charged, though the case is under investigation.

The killing occurred early Wednesday at the My Family nursing home in the rural southwestern town of Yauco, Puerto Rico.

Original Article
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/09/24/puerto.rico.death.ap/index.html

 

[donga]

wow. why would you not go for murder charges? can you be excused from murder if you're old?

 

[nanofrog]

wow. why would you not go for murder charges? can you be excused from murder if you're old?

His Alzheimer's Disease would be the key issue I would think. People that suffer this disease don't recognize the world around them, and as it advances, tend to lose self control as well. Truly sad.