Elly Lorey spent the last of her 89 years in a state of extreme mental decay, living in a locked, unventilated room where she smeared excrement on the walls and existed on a diet of honey buns and Ramen noodles, according to police reports. When she died, Lorey had withered to 80 pounds. Despite the signs of advanced Alzheimer's disease, she had received no medical care.
Elly lived with Kerstin (the daughter) and Toby Fenn in a four-bedroom, two-bath home in the Cimarron neighborhood west of Boca Raton.
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The trial started last week and here are some of the facts in evidence and quotes.
"As we entered the bedroom, my senses were shocked... the smell of urine and feces...no carpet on the floor. It appeared to once have been wallpapered but most of it, nearly all had been removed. There were gouge marks in the drywall, brown smudges everywhere," said Sgt. John Nolan.
When detectives asked where Lorey died, Fenn showed them her room. They described bare concrete floors, no toilet seat, feces everywhere, and feces-streaked gouge marks into the drywall all around the locked door. There were no sheets on the bed, just a towel.
"I asked where the sheets were, " said Nolan, "And his response to me was you better not piss me off."
"Mr. Fenn reached into the pantry and brought out a chicken flavored Ramen noodle soup package and a pre-packaged sticky bun, and he said this is what we feed her."
"He said he didn't like to feed her too much becuase she would defecate on herself and eat the feces."
Fenn told detectives he'd left Lorey's breakfast beside her bed that morning, locked her in, and then went to work as a tennis instructor. When he returned six hours later, he said he found her dead.
"On several occasions, he stated you'd never understand if never lived with someone with Alzheimer's. He said, I'm almost relieved she's dead; the first thing I'll do is take a vacation," said Tobey.
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