12 The Golden Years

Friday afternoon – Edna comes to visit her friend Mildred and finds her apartment door open.  She comes in and notices that it’s been tossed.  She finds Mildred dead on the floor next to her bed.

She calls the police.  The front door has been jimmied.  Most neighbors were out and the ones who were in the building did not see or hear anything.

Mildred Bauer is an 82-year-old lady.  There are bruises on her arms and a cut along her jaw. She is very thin, and she looks really frail.

Tell the detectives to go to the crime scene and talk to the woman who found Mildred dead.

This is the information you will provide:

Tell the police to check the bottom drawer of the bedside table where Mildred kept her jewelry.  Inform them that you noticed that the pair of silver candlesticks you gave her 10 years ago is missing. You hadn’t seen Mildred for some weeks.  You had come by to visit her, but the maid wouldn’t let you in. She said Mildred couldn’t be disturbed; that she had orders from Laura (Mildred’s granddaughter) not to allow anyone to come in.  Mildred was a strong woman. The last time you saw her, Mildred had a bad cough and the next time you saw her she was dead. A few weeks before she died, you got a note from her.  She wanted to know if you could contribute to the engagement gift for Laura, Mildred’s granddaughter: a tablecloth. Mildred was very happy with Laura’s engagement to Mr. Halliwell. Mildred said she was going to give Laura some bonds for her future great-grandchildren.

This is the information you will provide:

There is no evidence of foul play.  Old people who live alone often get sick, fall down, and die as a result of the fall. They often get bruises just from rolling around in bed.  You still haven’t done the autopsy, but the old lady obviously had several medical problems. She has been dead for at least 12 hours.

After hearing the detectives’ reports, tell them to talk to Mildred’s family and just check out if there is anything suspicious about her death. You cannot interrupt your investigation until the medical examiner reports that there was no foul play.

This is the information you will provide:

You and your daughter Laura begged Mildred to get out of the apartment and go into a home, but she wouldn’t even consider it. You had actually found a very nice home, but your mother-in-law was stubborn. You don’t understand why someone would kill her to steal anything because there was nothing valuable in the apartment.

This is the information you will provide:

Your father, Mildred’s son, had tried to get her to move to a home when he was alive, but when your grandmother heard “nursing home” she thought it meant she was going to die.

Tell the police that your grandmother did not live alone.  You hired a live-in caretaker for her: Maria Gonzales, a Dominican girl.  You saw Maria on Tuesday.  She and your grandmother (you call her grans) were playing checkers. You don’t have her address, obviously, because she lived with your grandmother. You didn’t know that Maria was not at home with your grandmother.  You haven’t been to the apartment since Tuesday.

There’s no address for a Maria Gonzales. She is probably undocumented. It is strange that she would break into the apartment if she lived there. Instruct your detectives to try talking with other maids around Mildred’s apartments to see if anyone can give you any information.  In your opinion, Maria will not come back to the apartment: undocumented people don’t like problems. If she was shopping and found Mildred dead when she came back, she probably just took off.

This is the information you will provide:

You work taking care of an old lady, Mrs. Silverman.  Mildred and Mrs. Silverman would sometimes talk at the park.  Anyway, Maria stole your boyfriend, Felix Ortega, from you, and you’re sure she is staying at his apartment. Give the police Felix’s address.

Inform the detective that Felix Ortega has got a rap sheet. He has been convicted twice for burglary. You got a search warrant and sent two police officers to Felix’s apartment. They didn’t find Felix, but Maria Gonzales was there, and she was brought in for questioning.

Inform the detectives that during the search, the police found a package addressed to Rafael Nava, Dominican Republic.  When they opened the package, they found a pair of silver candlesticks. When they were shown to Edna, she confirmed that they are the ones she gave Mildred ten years ago. Tell the detectives to go to Felix Ortega’s place.

This is the information you will provide:

Some of your friends told you what happened, and you are very sorry for Mrs. Bauer. Last Tuesday you were fired by Mrs. Bauer’s granddaughter, Laura. In relation to the candlesticks, they were a present from Mrs. Bauer.

Laura fired you because you gave Mrs. Bauer some extra food and water. Laura had instructed you to give Mrs. Bauer just a little water and spread the food around on the plate so it looked like more. You did that but she was hungry. She was so thin.  You tried to give her more. Laura came in and saw it.  She was very angry and fired you.

You were leaving the building when you remembered you had Mrs. Bauer’s medicine in your bag.  You went back. Laura said you could keep the medicine because her grandmother wouldn’t be needing it anymore. You were very worried.  You knew Laura wouldn’t feed Mrs. Bauer.

On Friday morning, you and Felix went to the apartment.  You knocked on the door, but Mrs. Bauer didn’t answer it.  Felix broke it open.  You saw her on the floor, and you could tell she was dead. But you did not take anything!

Give the detectives a post-it note that Laura prepared about what food to give Mrs. Bauer.  She would place the notes on the door of the refrigerator. You kept them. Laura was trying to starve her grandmother to death!

a)      One chopped, cooked carrot.

b)      Half a potato only

c)      Only one cup of water a day

d)      A green salad

e)      1/2 whole wheat cheese sandwich

f)       One apple

g)      A lettuce and tomato salad

h)      Only one cup of tea with one toast (no butter)

i)       Green beans

j)       ½ cup of cooked spinach

k)      A slice of cantaloupe only once a day

This is the information you will provide:

The autopsy showed there was no trauma. No heart attack, nothing. She had hypotension, diminished organ size, kidney shutdown, all signs of dehydration. There were high levels of amino and fatty acids in her plasma and that means she was catabolizing muscle. She had not been eating. Your conclusion: she was starved to death. Maybe she didn’t have an appetite because she was sick, or she didn’t want to eat because she was depressed… It is not possible to tell how she got that way, but she definitely starved to death.

Maria says she was fired on Tuesday. Laura claimed in her first testimony that she didn’t know why Maria was not in the apartment on Thursday, the day of Mrs. Bauer’s death. Have the detectives interview Laura again.

This is the information you will provide:

You did not fire Maria. You don’t understand why she would have hurt grans. The last couple of months you and your mother noticed some things were missing from the apartment. Nothing much: an old radio, a winter coat… You did not fire her because it was small stuff. Your grandmother was incontinent, and it is very hard to find someone who is willing to take care of someone in that condition. You didn’t mention this before because Maria had been living in and there had been a break-in. Why would she break in? When the police show you copies of the diet list, you are outraged. You would never neglect your grandmother.  You were just controlling her food intake.  You had to give Maria specific instructions. Maria was feeding her empanadas and spicy foods. Some months ago, Grans had pneumonia which led to a kidney problem. Liquid balance was very difficult with her condition. Her doctor, Dr. Matthewson, gave you the instructions. You were just following the doctor’s orders.

This is the information you will provide:

Mrs. Bauer had arthritis and you prescribed painkillers. Last year she broke a hip and spent six weeks in the hospital. This year she had pneumonia and acute kidney disease. You did tell her granddaughter to restrict her water to minimize fluid retention. Mrs. Bauer also had to watch her protein intake. The diet restrictions would be lifted according to her progress.  You don’t know whether she made progress because she missed her appointments.  Your receptionist called the granddaughter and was told that Mrs. Bauer was seeing another doctor.

Tell your detectives to visit the law firm Swayze & Hersch to check Mrs. Bauer’s will and whether Laura would benefit from her death.

This is the information you will provide:

You checked Mrs. Bauer’s financial condition.  She wasn’t rich but could support herself comfortably.  She had a couple hundred thousand in bonds but had left all to charity. Mrs. Bauer liked Laura and had set up an education fund for her.  Laura’s planning on going to law school. Mrs. Bauer also bought her a used BMW. Mildred was old-fashioned.  She took care of Laura’s education.  Beyond that, she thought inherited money made people soft. Besides, Laura had a fiancé, Kent Halliwell, a fine old Boston name.

This is the information you will provide:

You and Laura are friends.  You are not engaged, not really.  You did go out for a while.  You know that Laura is seeing someone else but so are you.  You liked Mrs. Bauer and Laura suggested introducing you as her fiancé.  She said it would cheer her up. So, you went along. The old lady was dying, and she loved Laura.  She had given Laura 50% property rights over her apartment. You and Laura told Mrs. Bauer that you loved that awful apartment and couldn’t wait to live there after you were married. She liked to hear that Laura was doing well. Laura was always trying to make her feel better. Like when she told her grandmother she was going to law school.

You checked the city records and found out that three months ago, Mrs. Bauer and Laura had become co-owners of the apartment with right of survivorship. You also found out that Laura has already borrowed against the property. She borrowed $75,000 at Westside Financial. You subpoenaed her checking account and found out that she wrote a check for $60,000 to the owner of Earthly Delights.

This is the information you will provide:

You and Laura have been going out for a while. You got a check for $60,000 from Laura.  You are opening a restaurant and it was a good investment.  You offered Laura a chance to get in. It’s a health-food restaurant presented with style.  People like it. Laura was very sad when her grandmother died.  They were very close.  Last Thursday, you were going to a club and Laura insisted on stopping to check on her grandmother. You waited in the car.  Laura said her grandmother was sleeping.

You are sure that Laura is guilty of starving her mother to death.  Go to the District Attorney and present your conclusions.

Teacher: Place students in groups and ask them to review all the information they have collected and try to summarize the arguments against Laura.

The facts are listed below.  Award the group who can come up with the most comprehensive list:

•  Laura visited her grandmother on Thursday night.  Mrs. Bauer was found dead on Friday morning.
•  Maria said she was fired on Tuesday and Laura said she hadn’t been to her grandmother’s apartment since Tuesday.
•  If Maria, the caretaker, is telling the truth, then Laura lied when she said she hadn’t fired her.
• If  Maria, the caretaker, is telling the truth, the grandmother hadn’t had anything to eat since Tuesday!
• In your opinion, Laura went inside on Thursday night to check and see if her grandmother was already dead.
• If the grandmother was still alive on Thursday night, then Laura did nothing to help her! It is depraved indifference to human life.
• Laura has already borrowed money against the apartment.
• Starvation may be a cause of death in some low-income countries, not in New York.
• She had lied to her grandmother about her engagement to Mr. Halliwell.
• She had lied to her grandmother about going to law school.
• She lied about her grandmother seeing another doctor.

You feel guilty not because you killed your grandmother but because you couldn’t save her. You knew she was dying but she refused to go to a hospital. She said all of her friends were dead; the pain was so bad she couldn’t sleep, and it wasn’t going to get any better. She told you that she wanted to die. You begged her to eat. You argued with her, but she was so stubborn. You tried to make her see the doctor, but she refused.  You suggested another doctor, but she wouldn’t go. You felt guilty because you hadn’t argued harder. When she asked you why she should go on living, you couldn’t give her an answer. You haven’t said anything before because you are a catholic and suicide is a mortal sin. Your grandmother wanted to be buried in consecrated ground next to her parents. If the priest knew, he wouldn’t be allowed to bury her in the church cemetery. She would have to be buried in a public cemetery.  She wanted to die! She never called for help and there was a phone next to her bed! You had to lie.  You can be forgiven for lying. Suicide is the only sin that can’t be forgiven.

Ask students to decide whether they believe Laura’s story.

If they find her story believable, should she be charged with murder?

If they think her story is untrue, what should be done?