A Shocking Story of Suspected Elder Abuse at a Nursing Home

The following is from Scott Glover, A nursing home death, and a shocking phone call, LATimes.com, Dec. 19, 2007:

The day Rita Kittower buried her husband last month, the 83-year-old widow from Tarzana thought she had endured the worst life had to offer.

She had bade a tearful goodbye to her mate of 49 years, who had passed away in an exclusive assisted living facility in Calabasas. “He just stopped breathing,” Kittower said she was told by a staff member. ***

Then came the anonymous phone call the day after the funeral.

A woman claiming to be an employee of the nursing home told Rita that her 80-year-old husband’s death had been anything but peaceful. She said Elmore Kittower had been beaten to death by someone on the staff. ***

The suspect was arrested shortly after Kittower’s death on suspicion of elder abuse, but the case was rejected by the district attorney’s office. The suspect has denied any wrongdoing[.] ***