96-year-old man arrested for allegedly killing elderly wife in West L.A.

[n2doc]

A 96-year-old man was arrested for allegedly killing his elderly wife in West Los Angeles, police said Saturday.

Police said that they had no motive for the slaying and that the man, Milton Weiss, suffered from dementia.

They were called to the apartment in the 3100 block of Sepulveda Boulevard at about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, and found the woman, whose name was not released, dead of blunt force trauma.

Weiss was arrested and faces murder charges.

Neighbors told KTLA News the couple was having health problems recently.

"She had said she was having a lot of trouble with him," neighbor Sharon Queen-Ford told KTLA. "He was getting confused about things and would be angry about something that wasn't real."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/96-year-old-man-arrested-for-killing-elderly-wife-in-west-la-.html

[Hepburn]

1. Leave it to the LAPD Keystones to arrest him for murder.

Hello....??? The man has dementia. Someone tell me how the fuck he formed the requisite specific intent for the crime of murder???

Palm - Forehead!!! :shrug:

[styersc]

3. Few people could answer your question.

We could ask her, but.....

[Hepburn]

9. Murder is a specific intent crime.

One must have the specific intent to murder...or there is no crime of murder. If one has dementia, one most likely cannot forumlate general intent for criminal culpability of any nature let alone the specific intent to murder.

[styersc]

17. There are lesser charges. Your "non-solution" does nothing.

If this guy should, without intent, kill a child in the neighborhood, set fire to the house, drive a car into a crowd......

Just because this may not rise to the level of murder, does not mean that nothing should be done.

[whistler162]

5. That is what the police are supposed to do when

a person has allegedly killed someone. The DA and the judge with the assistance of medical personnel, most police officers aren't qualified to make a medical diagnosis, will determine whether he is fit for trial or not.

[Hepburn]

7. Ummmmmmmmmm....

...maybe they could have "thought" (giving the LAPD Keystones a bit of credit) of taking him to a hospital for his own safety instead of arresting him?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. It was the right thing to do

*IF* the system worked, he is now in a medical ward being taken care of while under arrest. If the situation is as described he will most likely stay under state care until he dies. Would you rather be die on the streets?

[Hepburn]

8. Would rather he be taken to a hospital for eval...

...UCLA Med Center is not that far away.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

12. As I said, IF THE SYSTEM worked, that is where he is now

though it maybe somewhere other than UCLA

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. the police have no choice but to arrest. That is their job, to arrest. Not to convict.

As to the rest of your statement:"The man has dementia. Someone tell me how the fuck he formed the requisite specific intent for the crime of murder???"
He has not been tried or convicted.

THAT is the issue for the prosecutors, not the police.

Just like on Law and Order....the police arrest, they do not try the person.
The prosecutor decides whether or not to place charges, what charges to place, and often details of a plea bargain.
I suspect the man will be evaluated to determine his mental status, comprehension of the act, etc.

[shraby]

2. Chances are, he doesn't even remember she's dead...much

less how she got that way.

[NYC_SKP]

4. Thats my mom and dad right there.

Both on Aricept, mom's pretty lucid and dad too unless he misses his meds.

We have almost gotten to full-time 24-7 need for care but the money isn't there and they'd have to leave their home.

Tough times.

:cry:

[HipChick]

10. Sorry to hear that..my father is on this path..he attacked me a few months back

It scared the crap out of me...he has never laid a finger on me my entire life....he won't always take his meds

[malaise]

11. My cousin's husband was the mildest of men

-a gentleman and a medical doctor who was loved by all and then dementia set in. He'd attack her when she tried to bathe him and she had to hire a trained mental health nurse. It was painful watching him at the end -she and their children were relieved when he died -he was 87.

[NYC_SKP]

14. That refusal to take meds is brutal, that and just questioning whether or not they're correct.

I'm sorry for you, HipChick.

Stay strong!

:hug:

[Raine]

16. My uncle was like that, he threatened to kill

the whole family while they slept. They kept their bedroom doors locked at night and tried to lock up anything that could be used as a weapon. Finally got him into a nursing home from which he tried to escape. He had been an intelligent guy, it was sad to see him end the way he did.

[lunatica]

15. Dementia is a horrible disease.