Kent Joseph Gockel, St Marys, Kansas, accused of stealing $890,000 from mother

ksn.com

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A St. Marys man has been charged with stealing more than $890,000 from his mother's trust funds. Prosecutors say Kent Joseph Gockel was charged Thursday with 11 counts of bank fraud stemming from actions in 2008.

Federal prosecutors say Kent Gockel started taking care of his mother's trust funds in 2002 after his father died...

what a jerk...read entire article here

Nursing home gunman 'had cancer'

Tom Baldwin in Washington and Anne Barrowclough

timesonline.co.uk

March 30, 2009

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This is an article from the United Kingdom.

Carthage, Massachutes--A gunman who shot dead eight people at a North Carolina nursing home had told family members he had been diagnosed with cancer, according to his ex-wife.

Robert Stewart, 45, walked into the Pinelake Health and Rehabilitation Centre in Carthage and opened fire at 10 am on Sunday, killing seven residents and a nurse, and injuring several others including a police officer before he was himself shot and injured.

Authorities would not comment on the motivation for the latest massacre to scar American society, where firearms-related deaths total about 30,000 each year.

But Stewart's ex-wife Sue Griffin said he had recently told relatives he had cancer, was preparing for a long trip and said he was going to "go away".

Ms Griffin, who was married to Stewart for 15 years before they divorced in 2001, said he had been violent during their marriage.

"He did have some violent tendencies from time to time," she said. "I wouldn't put it (the shooting) past him. I hate to say it, but it is true."

Although the couple had not spoken since their divorce, the week before the shooting Stewart made a number of efforts to contact her through family members, she said.

The nursing home, about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh, has 90 beds. It was recently awarded a five-star rating for the care it offers to people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Police said Stewart did not work at the home and was not believed to be related to any of the victims.

One of the residents called her daughter after the gunman stormed into her room and screamed "They're up here shooting, they're up here shooting."

Ellery Chishole told her daughter Beverly McNeill she hid her face in her shirt so she couldn't see Stewart after had pointed his 'deer gun' at her room mate. He left the room without hurting the women, and began shooting down the hallway.

The shooting will inevitably be seized upon by proponents of greater gun control who have already highlighted a spate of recent attacks.

Earlier this month Michael McLendon, 28, shot dead his mother, his grandmother, an uncle, a nephew and a cousin in a rampage that ended ten lives before he killed himself when cornered by police.

In Covina, California, last Christmas, nine people were killed when Bruce Pardo attacked a family party dressed in a Santa Claus suit. Among those dead were his ex-wife and former in-laws.

Every year, over 30,000 Americans die by gunshot, most of them suicides but including at least 10,000 murders. This is twice the number of 4,260 US soldiers killed in six years of the Iraq war.

Britain - which has some of the tightest firearms laws in the world - had just 50 deaths through gun crime in 2005-06, the last year for which figures are available. Of course Britian is approxiamately the size of Alabama with a population of about 60 million, vs US with a population of over 300 million. A better comparison would be the US vs statistics for the European Union.

Supporters of the so-called "Second Amendment" right to bear arms have said incidents such as the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre when Cho Seung Hui killed 32 people would have been prevented if students had been carrying their own weapons.

President Obama, wary of taking on powerful vested interests like the National Rifle Association, has said he opposes a crack-down on gun ownership. Asked yesterdaywhether he was concerned that 90 per cent of the weapons used in Mexico's drugs war were smuggled in from the US, he told CBS's Face the Nation programme: “I think the main thing we need is better enforcement".

Although both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Eric Holder have recently suggested they are interested in reintroducing a ban on assault weapons which the Bush Administration allowed to expire, dozens of Democratic Congressmen have pledged to oppose any such legislation.

7 residents, nurse die in NC nursing home shooting

By TOM FOREMAN Jr. and KEVIN MAURER
March 29, 2009

CARTHAGE, N.C. (AP) — A gunman burst into a North Carolina nursing home Sunday morning and started "shooting everything," killing seven residents and a nurse and wounding at least three others.
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Robert Stewart, 45, of Moore County, was charged hours later with eight counts of first-degree murder and a single charge of felony assault of a law enforcement officer. Authorities offered few other details, allowing only that Stewart was not a patient or an employee at the nursing home, and isn't believe to be related to any of the victims.
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"It's a horrible event in any size town, particularly, though, when you deal with a small town such as Carthage," said Police Chief Chris McKenzie. "It's hard. This is my home, my small town. I was born and raised here so, yeah, I take it to heart a little bit. All you can do is move forward."
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Authorities said Stewart began his rampage around 10 a.m. at Pinelake Health and Rehab, a nursing home in the North Carolina Sandhills about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh. A police officer, 25-year-old Justin Garner, was also wounded before Stewart was shot and apprehended.
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Sen. Harris Blake, a Moore County Republican, said six people were killed at the scene and two died later at a hospital in nearby Pinehurst. He said sheriff's officials told him that Stewart "comes in and just starts shooting everything around."
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The victims were identified as residents Tessie Garner, 88; Lillian Dunn, 89; Jessie Musser, 88; Bessie Hendrick, 78; John Goldston, 78; Margaret Johnson, 89; Louise Decker, 98; and nurse Jerry Avent, whose age wasn't immediately available.
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Gretchen Kelly, a spokeswoman at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in nearby Pinehurst, said six people were brought to the hospital from the nursing home. Two died, two were discharged and two were still being treated. She wouldn't release further details on the injuries or conditions of those hospitalized.
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Late Sunday afternoon, authorities appeared to be conducting a search of the nursing home's parking lot, which they had blocked off with yellow police tape. Among the items they found was a camouflaged-colored rifle or shotgun, which was leaning against the side of a Jeep Cherokee.
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The road leading to the home was filled with parked cars, both of police and relatives of those living at Pinelake. Howard McMillian, of Lakeview, said he raced to the scene as soon as he heard about the shooting. His 56-year-old sister lives at the nursing home, and McMillian said his brother had gotten a call from officials saying she was unharmed.
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"I know she's real nervous," McMillian said. "I just want to make sure she's OK." A nursing home Web site said the facility that opened in 1993 has 110 beds, including 20 for those with Alzheimer's disease.
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Carthage is a small town of roughly 1,800 people in the North Carolina Sandhills, an area popular among retirees and home to several noted golf courses, including the famed Pinehurst resort and its No. 2 course that regularly hosts the U.S. Open.
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Pinelake Health and Rehab was last inspected in May, and the review resulted in an overall five-star — or "much above average" — rating from federal Medicaid officials.

Associated Press Writer Erin Gartner contributed to this report from Raleigh, N.C.
On the Net:
Pinelake Health and Rehab: http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.peakresourcesinc.com/nursing/pinelake.h&usg=AFQjCNEHp1se88WGC5kLvlk0-H8-lkHZIQ

8 dead in N.C. nursing home shooting

The shooting at a Carthage facility left several others injured

Associated Press
Sunday, March 29, 2009

CARTHAGE, N.C. - Authorities said man accused of opening fire in a North Carolina nursing home faces eight counts of first-degree murder.

District Attorney Maureen Krueger identified the suspect in the killings of eight people as 45-year-old Robert Stewart of Moore County. He also faces a charge of felony assault of a law enforcement officer.

Authorities said seven residents and one nurse were killed in the 10 a.m. rampage Sunday at Pinelake Health and Rehab in the town of Carthage, about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh. A police officer and several other people were also wounded before Stewart was shot and apprehended.

Authorities at an afternoon news conference said Stewart did not work at the facility and they don't believe he is related to any of the victims.

'Comes in and starts shooting'

Sen. Harris Blake of Moore County said the gunman "comes in and just starts shooting everything around."

Gretchen Kelly, spokeswoman at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, said six people had been brought to the hospital from the nursing home about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh. Kelly said two of the injured died at the hospital.

Kelly said two other patients had been discharged, while two were still being treated. She wouldn't release further details on the injuries or conditions of those hospitalized.

McKenzie said the gunman wasn't a patient at the nursing home, but didn't offer any further details on what the gunman's motive might have been.

A nursing home Web site said the facility that opened in 1993 has 110 beds, including 20 for those with Alzheimer's disease.

Calls to the nursing home by The Associated Press rang unanswered Sunday, and McKenzie and several state law enforcement agencies didn't immediately return messages or declined to comment. Police planned a news conference for later Sunday afternoon.

Carthage is a small town of roughly 1,800 people in the North Carolina Sandhills, an area popular among retirees and home to several noted golf courses, including the famed Pinehurst resort and its No. 2 course that regularly hosts the U.S. Open.

Pinelake Health and Rehab was last inspected in May, and the review resulted in an overall five-star -- or "much above average" -- rating from federal Medicaid officials.

Neglected Woman's Shoes Had Grown Into Her Feet

Elderly Woman Found "Soaked In Urine"
Monday, January 5, 2009

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Authorities say an elderly Port St. Lucie woman was so neglected by her son that her never-removed shoes had grown into her feet.

Investigators were called to an area hospital on Saturday after paramedics found 90-year-old Anna Chuboff emaciated and wearing clothes "soaked in urine." She had been injured in a fall at her home.

Her son, 68-year-old Robert Rozenti, was arrested and charged with neglect of an elderly person. It wasn't immediately known whether he had an attorney.

Upate on Elder Abuse. Links from msc...

Thanks to commenter msc for posting these links as an update for the story of two teens who volunteered in a nursing home and have been charged with Elder abuse.

msc has left a new comment on your post "Teens charged for abuse at elderly care center":

Here are the actual reports:

http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/fpc/directory/surveyapp/ohfcfindings/h5441019.pdf

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1202081minn1.html

If anyone wants to email Attorney Nelson, here's an address craig.nelson@co.freeborn.mn.us

Teens charged for abuse at elderly care center

Minn, Minn
Dec 3, 2008

Six teenage workers from an elderly care center have been fired. Two are accused of abusing residents, while four others are charged with failure to report the abuse.
The criminal complaints against a 19-year-old and 18-year old, both part-time nursing assistants, say a lot.

Between the two, Brianna Broitzman and Ashton Larson face 21 charges for alleged abuse against Alzheimer's residents at Albert Lea's Good Samaritan Society Care Center.

Right: Ashton Larson, Brianna Broitzman

They look very proud of themselves, don't they?

According to court documents witnesses say on several occasions the women rubbed the breast and genital areas of patients.

Brianna Broitzman also admitted to investigators she spit in the mouth of a resident.
The women would then laugh and talk about the incidents and do more things. According to witnesses, the two thought they would never get caught because the residents did not have their minds.

The incidents happened between January 1st and May 1st, 2008.
But family members of residents say court documents do not tell the entire story. "Mom's in great hands," said Marilss Webber.

Webber's mother has lived at Good Samaritan for four years and says in that time, she has never been abused or treated poorly.

"She goes down the hallway and they call her by name, they'll come in her room and ask her about the family pictures that are on the wall and who are they, they'll compliment her on the sweater she's wearing," Webber said and added she is gracious for all that everybody does.

"This has been a long investigation it's been an ordeal that we have been living for the last seven months," said Good Samaritan's Mark Anderson. Anderson said the investigation has been especially difficult on the ones who continue to work at the care center and said despite the investigation, the center has been a part of the community for fifty years and will continue to care for those who cannot care for themselves.

"We can continue to hold our head up high and be proud of the work we do," Anderson said.