Defense Puts on Its Case in Elderly Abuse Murder Trial (FL. USA)

Doctor testifies that Elly Lorey, 89, would have died even if hospitalized

By Missy Diaz

South Florida Sun Sentinel

September 15, 2009

Elly Lorey's death would have come when it did whether or not her daughter and son-in-law sought medical care, a California hospice doctor testified Tuesday.

"If she would have gone to the hospital, she would have died in the hospital," Dr. John Fullerton said. "There's virtually no chance she would have bounced back."

Fullerton's testimony came at the start of the defense case in the murder and elder abuse case against Lorey's daughter and son-in-law, Kerstin and Toby Fenn, of west Boca Raton. The couple face life in prison if convicted as charged.

When Lorey, 89, died in September 2005, authorities learned that she had been kept in a feces-covered, locked bedroom with scratch marks in the drywall. The state contends that the Fenns deprived Lorey of adequate food and water and that an autopsy showed she died of starvation and dehydration. Lorey had not seen a doctor in years, according to testimony.

Abridged

SOURCE: South Florida Sun Sentinel

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