Staunton caregiver's abuse leads to horrific end for man

This is an article written in The News Leader, my local paper. It was Written by Brad Zinn. Here's the link for the article ---> http://www.newsleader.com/article/20120331/NEWS01/203310319/Staunton-caregiver-s-abuse-leads-horrific-end-man?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage+DontMiss I copied the article because after awhile The News Leader links to articles don't work anymore. So here's the article. This is just awful. I just couldn't believe what I was reading. Staunton caregiver's abuse leads to horrific end for man STAUNTON — When 85-year-old Russell Beach, malnourished, bruised and deathly ill, was finally admitted to Augusta Health in the spring of 2010, it was the first time he had seen a doctor in three years. A second-grade dropout who worked for the Virginia Department of Highways in menial construction jobs and as a flagger, in the mid-1990s Beach was retired and living in a dilapidated Verona mobile home when he met Jeannette V. Hymes, a caregiver who would convince him to come live with her at her North Jefferson Street residence in Staunton. Fifteen years later Beach, who never married or had children of his own, died on May 29, 2010. Hymes, 50, pleaded guilty Friday in Staunton Circuit Court to a felony charge of abuse and neglect of an incapacitated patient. In court, Staunton prosecutor Raymond C. Robertson painted a disturbing picture of Beach's last few years of life spent in filth and disease, his bank accounts raided, his body battered with hypothermia that left him so cold doctors could not get a temperature reading in May 2010. "She treated him like a dog," Robertson said a witness told him. Hymes now faces the possibility of a 10-year prison term when sentenced. On May 26, 2010, Beach was taken to the emergency room at Augusta Health in Fishersville by Hymes, who told physicians Beach had fallen after trying to stand when a dog spilled hot coffee on his foot. But Robertson said Beach was incapacitated and could not walk, despite Hymes' claims that he was mobile and used a walker. Police searched Hymes' home and did not find a walker, a wheelchair or even a cane, the prosecutor noted. Robertson said fresh bruises and cuts were found on Beach, along with four broken ribs and a hip fracture. Numerous bedsores, known as pressure ulcers, covered parts of his body. Beach also suffered from malnutrition, and Robertson said doctors noted his hypothermia was "consistent with lying in a cold place for a long period of time." A toe injury, doctors concluded, appeared to have been caused when Beach was dragged over an uneven surface "like stairs," Robertson said. At least eight wounds, which Robertson said closely matched the shape of a belt buckle found in Hymes' home, were discovered on the victim's skin. Beach died three days after being taken to the hospital. An autopsy noted his numerous injuries, including blunt force trauma to the head and gangrene, and listed the cause of death as sepsis, a bacterial infection. "It rots you from the inside out," Robertson said. Robertson said one of Beach's femurs — the largest bone in a human's body — was so soft that it "crumbled" in the hand of the pathologist. The autopsy concluded Beach's death was a homicide, Robertson said. Staunton police investigators initiated a probe and discovered Beach's blood on a steep set of basement stairs in Hymes' home, and said Hymes was both reluctant and guarded when initially questioned, according to Robertson. When asked where Beach slept, Hymes first showed authorities a bedroom with feminine hygiene products on a dresser. A second bedroom where Hymes claimed Beach stayed had a picture of rapper Tupac Shakur, Robertson said. As it turns out, Beach was kept in the basement of Hymes' home, Robertson said. One witness said Beach's "bed" was a dog's blanket in front of Hymes' washer and dryer. Officers also discovered a mattress in the basement, which Robertson said reeked of "ammonia and urine." During a series of police interviews, Hymes denied Beach lived in the basement but finally admitted he'd been living there for a "couple of years," Robertson said. Despite telling police that Beach was provided with plenty of clothing, Hymes could only produce two pairs of pants, one with a 42-inch waist and the other with a 36-inch waist, neither of which fit Beach. She also described the diet she reportedly fed to Beach, but officers did not find the foods that Hymes listed, Robertson said. Except for a bottle of headache reliever, no medications were in the home at the time of Beach's death. In a police interview played in court, Hymes denied abusing Beach. "Why would I want to try and harm him?" she told police. Asked about his numerous injuries, she responded, "He bumped himself all the time." Robertson said before the emergency room visit in May 2010, Beach hadn't seen a doctor for more than three years. Robertson also said for at least 11 years Hymes collected Beach's Social Security and retirement checks from his bank accounts. The checks totaled $1,400 per month. Following Friday's hearing, Circuit Judge Humes J. Franklin Jr. ordered that Hymes be held without bond at Middle River Regional Jail pending sentencing.