DA: Never Had A Case Like 100-Year-Old's Slaying

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http://www.thebostonchannel.com/cnn-news/21239366/detail.html

DA: Never Had A Case Like 100-Year-Old's Slaying
Dartmouth Woman Found Strangled In Bed

POSTED: 12:42 pm EDT October 8, 2009
UPDATED: 3:01 pm EDT October 8, 2009
DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- The Bristol County district attorney said he cannot ever remember a case like it, admitting that the strangulation death of a 100-year-old Dartmouth nursing home resident is "extremely unusual", but he said he doesn't believe residents there have undue cause for alarm.

"I'm quite certain that the nursing home is going to take precautions based upon what the medical examiner has ruled."
- Sam Sutter, Bristol Co. D.A.
"I'm quite certain that the nursing home is going to take precautions based upon what the medical examiner has ruled and we're going to be working with them in conjunction on that," Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter said.

Elizabeth Barrow, a resident of the Brandon Woods long-term care facility, was found Sept. 24, strangled with a plastic bag over her head in the bedroom she shared with another woman in her 90s, officials said.

Barrow had just celebrated her 100th birthday in August. She was still very active, her only son, Scott, said, and was looking forward to "living her life."

Sutter said the nursing home is cooperating fully with his office on the investigation into Barrow's death which he called "staggering, shocking and inhumane."

The nursing home issued a statement saying, in part, "We prepare for these eventualities as persons caring for the elderly who die of natural causes. This situation is especially tragic because the exact chain of events may never be known."

Brandon Woods was given good rankings during recent Medicare and Medicaid inspections performed by the government, getting a 4 out of 5 overall rating for its health initiatives, staffing and quality of life measurements.

The Massachusetts Department of Health said the facility met 122 of 132 key nursing home requirements but its overall score of 116 was below the state average of 121.

Scott Barrow, 61, said he did not blame the nursing home. He said his centenarian mother, who had lived there for four years, had been going strong. He said she defied her age and lived a happy, alert life at Brandon Woods.

"We're devastated. I mean, my mother was well-loved. She loved everyone at the nursing home. She had a daily routine where she would go up and down the hallway and hug people who weren't as fortunate as she," Scott Barrow said.

He said his mother was born in New Bedford in 1909 and grew up there before moving to Dartmouth, a town about 50 miles south of Boston.

When she was in her 20s, he said, she worked as a school teacher and at one point was dubbed "Miss Rayon" when the new fabric was first produced, traveling around the region promoting it. He said she later worked as a cafeteria worker in Dartmouth's public schools.

She and her husband Raymond, a tax assessor, were married for 65 years before he died two years ago. Both moved to Brandon Woods more than four years ago.