Wednesday January 18, 2012
BRATTLEBORO -- A former licensed nurse's assistant at the Thompson House Rehabilitation and Nursing Center has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of an 83-year-old resident.
Thirty-seven-year-old Jodi LaClaire, of Bennington, N.H., pleaded not guilty to the charge through her attorney, during her arraignment Tuesday.
The charge stems from a 2009 incident in which LaClaire allegedly injected Nita Lowery with insulin, causing her to suffer brain damage and then die.
LaClaire was arrested on Saturday at her home in Bennington, N.H.
Last April, she was charged with 15 counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, after she allegedly used Lowery's credit card before and after her death.
Judge Katherine Hayes set bail for LaClaire at $150,000 because of the new charges.
"These are very serious charges, more serious than the original 15 counts ... these involve allegations of homicide and violence," Hayes said. "Because these new charges carry a capital penalty ... she has more of an incentive to flee."
Her attorney, Rick Ammons, argued that LaClaire isn't a flight risk because she's complied with all the court proceedings and has been working full time in Jaffrey, N.H., and is living with her fiancée in Bennington.
She is currently being held at Springfield Correctional Facility.
During the arraignment, LaClaire stated through her attorney that she's not guilty and that she wants to fight the charges set before her.
LaClaire entered the courtroom wearing dark clothing. She was shackled at the wrists and feet, and used her dark hair to mask her face from Lowery's family member and the media.
Although it has been nearly three years since the alleged murder before officials formally charge LaClaire, Lowery's son, John Lowery said he and his family are grateful for all their work.
"We believe in the process and we have the utmost respect for the prosecutors and the investigators in the case and we want to thank them for their hard work," John said in an interview shortly before LaClaire's arraignment.
The investigation into LaClaire began after suspicions arose regarding Lowery being hospitalized, said Dane Rank, administrator of Thompson House.
"Something was amiss," Rank said. "We immediately contacted the Brattleboro Police Department and the Department of Licensing."
LaClaire was suspended pending the investigation results in the spring of 2009 and has not been brought back to work, he said.
Rank said this is a terrible situation and that Thompson House takes the welfare of its residents very seriously.
"All of the employees who work with our residents are thoroughly vetted as part of the hiring process," Rank said.
Each employee has to pass multiple criminal background checks, both state and federal, verification of Vermont licensure and a referral process, he said.
At the time of the alleged murder, LaClaire was a licensed nursing assistant and had passed all of the background checks required to work with residents, he said.
Rank said he couldn't comment on LaClaire's performance as the investigation is ongoing.
He said he and the staff are committed to assisting the police and the State Attorney General's office.
According to Det. Virgina Merriam, of the Vermont Attorney General's Office Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit, LaClaire was the only licensed nurse assistant assigned to the second floor from 11 p.m. on March 22, 2009, to 7 a.m. the following day.
"Lowery was discovered shortly after 7 a.m., on March 23, 2009, by another LNA, in her room, unconscious and slumped in her wheelchair," Merriam wrote.
She was taken to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital where she was found to be "clinically brain dead."
Louis Yelle, a paramedic with Rescue Inc., who responded to the 911 call from Thompson House, said when he arrived Lowery was in her bed, having been moved by the nursing home's staff, and a glucometer reading from her left hand resulted in a blood sugar reading of 16. A "normal" reading is between 70 and 120.
After attaching an IV to her left wrist, he took a second reading. The meter read 13. Yelle gave her a dose of dextrose, a common treatment for low blood sugars levels and about six minutes later her levels read 162.
Yelle said he fully expected Lowery's mental state to "improve significantly with the dextrose and he was surprised when she did not regain consciousness," the affidavit states.
He added that all her vital signs were within a "normal range" and that "her skin was warm and dry" which isn't typical for a person suffering from a hypoglycemic event.
"Yelle stated he believed this could be an indicator that Lowery had been 'down' for a long period of time and had possibly become dehydrated and could no longer produce sweat," Merriam wrote.
Yelle said there was only one other occasion where a patient didn't improve with dextrose. He said he was surprised at how low her blood sugar level was for not having a history of diabetes or being prescribed any diabetic medications, the affidavit states.
LaClaire told Lisa Kemp, director of nursing services at Thompson House, that Lowery was complaining of a headache that night and when LaClaire brought Lowery a cup of coffee at about 6 a.m., she still was complaining of a headache. LaClaire brought her a second cup of coffee a half hour later and noted she hadn't drank her first.
When LaClaire arrived in her room, she described Lowery as unsteady and said she had to assist Lowery to her wheelchair. Lowery then said her headache had become much worse.
Witnesses told police that LaClaire had twice diverted staff members from delivering coffee to Lowery, once at 5 a.m., and again at about 6:30 a.m.
The investigation further pointed to LaClaire after several medical experts each confirmed Lowery's death wasn't due to natural causes.
Last month Merriam met with Lowery's primary care physician, Dr. Denise Paasche, who had treated her for about eight years prior and had seen her for a routine check-up three days before her death.
Paasche told her that she didn't observe anything to indicate Lowery was ill nor did she make any unusual complaints. She also stated that if Lowery had been experiencing low blood sugar levels caused from a medical condition there should have been a pattern, which there wasn't.
Because of that, Paasche concluded that Lowery suffered from an "exogenous, outside the body, source of insulin," the affidavit states.
Another doctor, Deidre Donaldson, Lowery's neurologist for nearly a decade, said there was "no physiological explanation" for her hypoglycemia symptoms except for the introduction of insulin into her system.
"The brain is particularly sensitive to hypoglycemia, and will be severely damaged if it is deprived of the necessary levels of blood glucose," the affidavit states.
LaClaire, according to multiple family members and her boyfriend, is a insulin dependent diabetic and used injectable insulin.
Dr. Richard Comi, section chief of the endocrinology department at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, after reviewing Lowery's medical documents, said it was "very unlikely" that Lowery could have sustained such a significant brain injury if she had actually been awake and oriented at when LaClaire claimed she was.
Dr. Comi opined that she was most likely unconscious for at least 2-to-4 hours and that in his 20 years, he has never seen a non-medication related hypoglycemic event that produced a blood sugar level as low as Lowery's.
During the investigation, it was revealed that another Thompson House resident had been hospitalized for unusually low blood sugar levels during the early morning hours of March 7, about two weeks before Lowery was allegedly killed.
Similar to Lowery, the victim had never been treated for diabetes or any other disease or condition that could result in such a low level.
"At the time that this incident occurred, LaClaire was also the only LNA on duty on the second floor," Merriam wrote.
Doctors also reviewed the other victim's medical records and again they concluded that the only explanation for the low blood sugar levels was an administration of insulin.
The victim died nearly a year later from "natural" causes but no charges have been filed against LaClaire.
Assistant Attorney General Linda Purdy, declined to comment on whether any charges will be filed against her.
LaClaire is also facing 15 other charges stemming from her alleged use of Lowery's credit card before and after her death.
On May 7, 2009, Gail Speno, trustee of Lowery's trust, told the Brattleboro Police Department that on numerous occasions between March 23, when Lowery was hospitalized, and April 5, four days after her death, someone used her USAA credit card without authorization, the affidavit states.
The total of all the transactions, completed and attempted, was more than $8,000.
Lowery's desktop computer was examined forsensically by the Vermont State Police who reported that a file word search of "credit card" and "USAA" were performed the morning she died. The examination also confirmed that the USAA website had been accessed multiple times between 4:21 a.m., and 5:39 a.m., that morning, Merriam wrote.
There also were five phone calls to USAA made from Lowery's personal telephone in her room between that same time.
Staff at the Thompson House stated that Lowery typically woke up between 5 and 6 a.m., and for LaClaire to use her computer and phone to obtain a PIN for Lowery's credit care without fear, Lowery must have been unconscious, not simply asleep, Merriam wrote.
Police also obtained surveillance photographs of a person, who appears to be LaClaire, making cash withdrawals using Lowery's card.
Josh Stilts can be reached at [email protected] , or 802-254-2311 ext. 273.
Copyright 2012 MediaNews Group, Inc. and New England Newspaper Group Inc.All Rights Reserved
