A nurse at the Atria Applewood assisted-living facility in Lakewood was preparing to check on patients early Saturday when she heard a call for help from room 122 down the hall.
The nurse went to investigate and stumbled upon a grisly sight: 87-year-old Homer Castor, a man in a latter stage of Alzheimer’s disease, stood covered in blood in the room where 76-year-old Gerald Propp, another dementia patient, lay beaten and dying in his bed. The men were roommates.
Three weeks before the fatal beating, Propp’s wife heard Castor say, “He makes me so mad I want to punch him out.” Police also found the two men had been involved a week later in a physical clash that left Propp with superficial scratches.
Officials characterized the beating as one that appeared to be of confused and misguided rage. Castor is being held without bail on suspicion of homicide and crimes against an “at-risk adult” in the attack, police said Tuesday. Investigators found blood splattered on the bedroom walls, carpet, dresser and doors, an arrest affidavit shows.
Facility employees told police they had to block Castor from attacking another resident after he beat Propp, according to the affidavit.
“He asked for it,” Castor told the staff after they made him wash his hands of Propp’s blood, the affidavit said.
Police said the knuckles on Castor’s right hand were reddened, adding that he indicated he had beaten his roommate with his bare hands. Castor at one point suggested to an investigator that he beat Propp because Propp had tried to touch Castor’s quilt. In the presence of the investigator, Castor pointed toward Propp’s side of the room, saying: “It didn’t work out for him too well,” court records show.
Propp, who also suffered from Alzheimer’s, was transported to a hospital before he died Monday morning. He suffered fractures to his nasal area, left eye and face, police said.
An emergency-room physician’s assistant told investigators the beating was so severe that it left Propp with bleeding on the left side of his brain.
“We were saddened to learn of the death of one of our residents,” the corporate office for Atria Applewood said in a statement. “We extend our deepest sympathy to his family.”
The facility said it is cooperating with authorities as they investigate the death and are “committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure that our residents continue to feel safe and protected in our community.”
The facility’s parent company, Atria Senior Living, operates or owns 145 facilities in 27 states and is home to more than 16,000 seniors. The Lakewood facility, which has been open since 2008, houses about 110 residents. Atria has managed it since 2013.
Castor told investigators he thought Propp had come over in the night to beat him up before Propp went back to bed and pretended to be asleep. During an interview, Castor told investigators he had a wife but could not remember her name.
“(Aggression) usually occurs in the later stages of the disease,” said Dr. Jonathan Woodcock, a University of Colorado neurologist who runs the school’s clinical dementia program. “It is not seen in a majority of the patients, but it is seen in some people. I wouldn’t call it common, but it does happen.”
Woodcock declined to speak specifically about the Lakewood case, but he said such a violent outburst is highly unusual.
“In Alzheimer’s disease, the entire brain eventually becomes involved in the pathology,” he said. “It’s not just a matter of memory. It’s a matter of emotional control and understanding situations and being able to monitor one’s self.”
Dr. Howard Weiss, a psychiatrist in Greenwood Village who often treats Alzheimer’s patients, says the beating raises serious clinical questions about Castor’s mental health history, adding, however, that violence is incredibly hard to predict.
“In retrospect, it looks terrible,” Weiss said of putting two patients with a history of problems so close to each other.
Neither Weiss nor Woodcock has any involvement with the Lakewood case.
Castor’s dementia is so severe that he has to be reminded to use the bathroom and drink liquids, his wife told investigators. She also told police she was “shocked to learn what Homer had done,” records show.
An Atria Applewood file said Castor is known for talking to himself in the mirror and becoming angry when he doesn’t recognize that it’s him. He often tells people he is 30 years old.
Police say Castor admitted to the beating during a police interview, although investigators had trouble understanding him as he talked about needing to change his shirt and his wristwatch. The Denver Post could find no criminal history for Castor in Colorado.
The Jefferson County district attorney’s office has yet to charge Castor, police said. Castor has been ordered by a judge to undergo an evaluation at the state’s mental health hospital in Pueblo.
Propp’s wife told 7News that her husband had suffered from Alzheimer’s for eight to 10 years.
She said he loved motorcycles and cars.
The facility nurse who early Saturday heard Propp cry out “Help me! Help me!” told investigators that he had been a very quiet resident.
The nurse, in fact, had only heard him say one word: “No.”
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul
