< Back to front page Text size – +

Justice sought in strangulation of 100-year-old

E-mail|Link October 8, 2009 02:31 PM

(Scott Barrow)

Elizabeth Barrow on her 100th birthday on Aug. 12.

By John R. Ellement, David Abel, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

FALL RIVER --Authorities vowed today to conduct a thorough investigation of the strangulation of a 100-year-old woman in a Dartmouth nursing home, but released few new details about the crime at a press conference.

Elizabeth Barrow was strangled and suffocated with a plastic bag, according to her death certificate on file at the Dartmouth Town Hall. At the press conference outside Fall River's downtown courthouse, Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter downplayed questions about whether the attack last month may have been random, but he would not say if investigators had identified a suspect or a possible motive.

"It's shocking. It's inhumane. And it’s a terrible tragedy, as are all homicides," said Sutter, noting that he was unaware of any other homicide with a 100-year-old victim. "Is there some acuteness because of her age? I would say yes. This is an extremely unusual case."

Staff at the Brandon Woods Nursing Home on a routine morning check found Barrow dead in her bed at 7 a.m. on Sept. 24. Investigators initially believed that she had committed suicide, but an autopsy by the medical examiner determined that Barrow had been the victim of asphyxiation by manual strangulation. Sutter would not say today what in the autopsy pointed to strangulation, but her death has been ruled a homicide.

A bereft woman who answered the phone today at the home of Barrow's relatives declined to speak at length because she said the family was still reeling from the revelation that she had been killed. The woman did say, however, that the family learned from reporters that Barrow's death had been ruled a homicide. Sutter acknowledged today that there had been a regretful gap in communication which resulted in his staff issuing a press release before the family had been notified.

At the nursing home, residents and staff continued to grieve for Barrow, according to spokesman Scott Picone, who called her death a tragedy. The nursing home released a four-paragraph statement that said Barrow, "enjoyed her time at our facility, as relayed to us by members of her immediately family, as well as the staff who cared for her on a daily basis."

"We prepare for these eventualities as persons caring for the elderly, who die of natural causes," the statement said. "This situation is especially tragic because the exact chain of events may never be fully known."

Asked at today's press conference whether the other nursing home residents were safe, Sutter said, "I'm quite certain the nursing home is going to take precautions.

"We are resolved to get to the bottom of this," Sutter said. "Anything is possible at this point in time."

Susan Pierce, administrative clerk at the Dartmouth Council on Aging, said the people in her community described Barrow as "very well loved."

"What I have heard about her is that she was a happy person, that everybody who knew her loved her," Pierce said. "She was very well loved."

Pierce described the staff at Brandon Woods as "very professional," based on her limited contact with the organization. "I have never heard a negative thing about them," she said.