98 Year Old Female Nursing Home Murderer Killed Her 100 Year Old Roommate Over A Bed By A Window
The strangulation death of 100-year-old Elizabeth Barrow at first was suspected to be a suicide, but upon further investigation, it has been discovered that she was murdered by her roommate, 98-year-old Laura Lundquist.
On Friday, the 98-year-old Laura Lundquist was indicted on a second-degree murder charge that alleges she strangled her 100-year-old nursing home roommate after making the victim’s life “a living hell” because she thought the woman was “taking over the room.”
Laura had lived in that room for several years with her deceased husband, who had passed away in the bed by the window, that Mrs Barrow had been living in ever since Laura’s husband had died.Laura had a developed a very sentimental feeling towards that room because of the memory of her husband.
The women had been sharing a room for about a year before the murder occurred.
Apparently, the motivation for the murder was that Laura Lundquist wanted Mrs Barrow’s bed by the window in the nursing home room, and had tried to make Barrow’s life a living hell in order to get it.
When she did not give in to the constant harassment by the younger Lundquist, this frustrated Mrs Lundquist and that is when she decided to kill her roommate Mrs Barrow in order to get the bed by the window. Her rationalization for the murder is that Mrs Barrow was trying to …”take over the room”…
The two had quarreled the night before Barrow’s death over a table Lundquist had placed at the foot of the victim’s bed, blocking her access to the bathroom.
“When the nurse moved the table from the location, Ms. Lundquist, the defendant, assaulted her by punching her. She stated at that time, Ms. Lundquist that is, that ‘She [Barrow] might as well have the whole room.’
Upon further investigation by the District Attorney’s office , under questioning by an investigator, it was revealed that the defendant harbored hostility towards the victim because she believed the victim, Ms. Barrow, was taking over the room they shared at the nursing home. The defendant made statements prior to the victim’s death that she would get the victims bed eventually, by the window, because she was going to outlive her,” said District Attorney Samuel Sutter, in a news conference Friday.
A Superior Court judge ordered Ms Lundquist to be sent to Taunton State Hospital for a mental competency evaluation.
When she appears in court, she will be the oldest defendant in state history, but might never go to trial because of her mental health issues.
The D.A. said he wrestled with whether he should bring murder charges against a 98-year-old woman, but in the end, believes it is the right thing to do.
Unfortunetly for Mrs Lundquist, her actions have to be prosecuted because the family of Mrs Barrow’s, no matter how old she was, deserves justice for her murder, it is just an unfortunate set of circumstances for all involved.
It is being reported that Laura Lundquist has a history of paranoia and dementia, so the murder could not have been premeditated, a prerequisite for a first degree murder charge.
This is why the indictment is for a second degree murder charge.
Elizabeth Barrow
Sources-
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO131601/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8409246.stm
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ifKAF_3IYYJSjhD-NDlGGU3ZjRRAD9CHE36G0
Jerrybrice's Blog 
Leave a Reply