The New Hampshire attorney general's office says a female nursing home resident who died had been attacked by a male resident suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Attorney General Joseph Foster said 82-year-old Barbara Whittier died on March 16, after authorities responded to the Golden View Health Care Center in Meredith.
Authorities learned that nursing staff had intervened after the male resident, 87-year-old Donald Sleeper, was found physically assaulting her inside her room. An autopsy showed the cause of death was hypertensive and coronary heart disease, with a contributing cause of attempted strangulation. The manner death was homicide.
Sleeper, described as having "severe Alzheimer's dementia," was taken to another medical facility. He had been a resident at Golden View since last fall.
Foster said the investigation into the circumstances that led to Mrs. Whittier's death is ongoing.
