From: hound23x@gmail.com   
      
   Alzheimer's patient could face murder charges   
      
   Anastasiya Bolton, KUSA   
   1 day ago   
      
   KUSA   
      
   An 87-year-old man with Alzheimer's disease is facing murder charges for   
   allegedly beating a 76-year-old man also suffering from the disease to death.   
   LAKEWOOD - Jefferson County prosecutors have until Monday to decide whether to   
   charge an elderly Alzheimer's patient accused of killing another man at an   
   assisted living home.   
      
   Police say 87-year-old Homer Castor beat 76-year-old Gerald Propp over the   
   weekend. Propp later died. Both men lived at Atria Applewood, a senior living   
   facility in Lakewood. Court records say both have Alzheimer's.   
   Castor was ordered by the court to undergo a competency evaluation.   
      
   9NEWS   
   Man with Alzheimer's allegedly beats, kills other patient   
      
   9NEWS psychologist Max Wachtel says based on what he's read in court   
   documents, Castor may be found incompetent to stand trial.   
   "In Colorado you need to have a factual and rational understanding of the   
   courtroom proceedings," Wachtel said. "Meaning, you need to know who the judge   
   is, who the attorneys are, kind of how the courtroom works and then to be able   
   to use that    
   information to make good rational decisions about your legal case. You also   
   have to be able to work with your attorney to assist in your defense. Anybody   
   with dementia and the end stages of Alzheimer's, they're going to have a   
   really tough time with    
   those two concepts and this gentleman I don't think is an exception to that."   
   Propp's family released the following statement to 9NEWS:   
   Jerry was a very private person and would not want the attention that this sad   
   event has garnered. It is Jerry's family's hope that through this tragic event   
   changes can be made to make assisted living, long-term care and memory care   
   facilities safe for    
   all residents.   
   Jerry fought Alzheimer's disease valiantly, recognizing that he was failing,   
   going to memory therapy and doing all he could to delay the onset.   
   His family is heartbroken to have lost him this way. We feel that we have   
   already lost him once to Alzheimer's, now we have lost him to this horrific   
   event.   
   Jerry was a wonderful man and a wonderful listener, a shirt-off-his back kind   
   of a human being. Even when the disease already set in, he made you feel like   
   he heard you and cared. You knew you mattered to him, even if he wasn't able   
   to express it.   
   Jerry was loved and will be very dearly missed by family and friends.   
   The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment licenses   
   facilities--like Atria Applewood. The agency tells 9NEWS it will be   
   investigating what happened from a safety and standards point of view.   
   Private facilities like Atria are not mandated by state of federal regulations   
   as much as places that accept Medicaid or Medicare, experts at the Department   
   of Health told 9NEWS. However industry standards will be used to determine if   
   things were done    
   right.   
   CDPHE plans to start the investigation into what happened at Atria as soon as   
   possible.   
   It could be up to 60 days before the decision is made public.   
   If any wrongdoing is found at the facility, CDPHE will recommend corrective   
   action and give a facility 10 days to present a plan for the future.   
   CDPHE has the power to take the facility's license away if necessary, but   
   that's not the goal.   
   At this point, no wrongdoing has been found on the part of Atria.   
   (KUSA-TV (c) 2015 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)   
      
      
   http://www.9news.com/story/news/crime/2015/02/25/atria-applewood   
   fatal-beating/24024385/   
      
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