Jury in elder abuse trial views photos
By RICK LEE
Daily Record/Sunday News
08/13/2008 02:19:54 PM EDT
The jury in the elder abuse trial of William and Frances Donohue spent the morning viewing graphic autopsy photos of Bernadette Leiben.
Black and white pictures projected onto the wall included closeups of Leiben's dirty fingernails and toenails, ulcerations that covered her back, and a plug of dirt, dead skin and hair pulled from her navel.
The Donohues are accused of neglecting Leiben, William Donohue's mother, over an extended period leading up to her death in May 2004.
Dr. Saralee Funke, the pathologist who performed the autopsy, told the jury Leiben, 87, died from sepsis, or bacteria in her blood stream, resulting from the massive bedsores and infections in her esophagus, kidneys and spleen.
She said none of the infections nor the ulcerated sores would have been fatal by themselves. She said the bedsores, some as deep as bone, were from being bedridden and neglected and that the organ infections could have been caused by bacteria from the sores.
Source: York Daily Record
-----------------------------------------------------
More Recent Posts from Spotlight on Elder Abuse
No comments:
Post a Comment