Feud over woman's care ends with 3 dead in Altamonte

Barbara Wallace's Alzheimer's disease was getting worse, and her family was bitterly divided over her care.

[Celia McCulty]

With all those children you would think one of them could have taken care of their Mother, or all of them together. My Mother had Alzheimer's for 10-12 years and she never spent a day anywhere except at home, with her 4 children and HHC taking care of her. Bet they wish now they had tried that instead of fighting over a place for someone else NOT to take care of her.

[soflokid]

very sad

[a shame]

William Wallace is 7 feet tall. kills men by the hundreds, and he were here.. he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his arse.

[Karen]

Alzheimers runs in my family. It is horrible, horrible disease. I took care of my Grandmother. Sad times when she turned mean and didn't know us. :( God Bless you Mammaww

[Rodney Johnson]

They took away this man's dignity, his ability to care for his family, when you take away a man's spirit, his life, his reason for living, he will lash out and do, sometimes, very deadly things to get it back. Didn't work in our minds but I bet it did in his.

[girl]

Celia McCulty wrote:

With all those children you would think one of them could have taken care of their Mother, or all of them together. My Mother had Alzheimer's for 10-12 years and she never spent a day anywhere except at home, with her 4 children and HHC taking care of her. Bet they wish now they had tried that instead of fighting over a place for someone else NOT to take care of her.

wow your case must have been easy with 4 kids being able to help...what if you were an only child and had kids of your own think you could have handled that responsibilty by yourself? My dad is 76 and has Alzheimer's i live in florida while he lives in maryland. I put him in an assisted living facility where he has his own apartment but there is round the clock nursing and doctors present. He is checked on constantly and wheres an alarm around his neck....i fly up to see my dad at least once a month. You dont know the whole situation so dont judge them.

[Fly_Moe]

a shame wrote:

William Wallace is 7 feet tall. kills men by the hundreds, and he were here.. he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his arse.

lol, I thought the same thing when I read this.

It's sad though. At least the family won't have to see her suffer any more.

[trtsmb]

Shame on his children for their behavior. If the man could not read, why couldn't the children help set up a system he could use or help out more?

It also floored me that the daughter had the nerve to take her mother to court for the legal bills that she accumulated through her own inability to be a good daughter.

[Firearms Instructor]

These things always go deeper than we think. I had to do this also, my father could not deal with the dementia my mother was suffering, he ignored her, he would not feed her, she slept in another room. I took her, divorced her from him, and got her Medicaid to help with ALF. After 52 yrs of marriage, he denied her Long Term Care Insurance. Now it's on me, and the kicker....he does'nt like the facility she's in. I let him know what he could do with himself..by the way, he carries and has a conealed weapons permit.

[Orlando Homegrown]

"If it ain't broke don't fix it" Quite obviously the husband was taking good care of his wife until his kids got in on it. 70 years old is plenty young enough to continue to care for your spouse and just because he couldn't read shouldn't be a determining factor in guardianship. There are many ways around that hurtle. The kids wanted to butt in, they got their way, and lost big time! To think they actually went after the mother to recover $12,000 for legal fees! That tells me a multitude about her kids! I can understand the husbands plight and his mindset that he had no chance to win against his children and the legal system. I can understand his taking his wife's life and then his own, even though it is considered unacceptable by the mentally stable, but the taking of his step daughter's life was murder in anyone's book and totally unacceptable to all. Tis a sad epitaph to a long and loving marriage. The kids get to relive their decisions for the remainder of their lives. A just and fitting conclusion.

[Shannon]

The saddest part about this is if they had just taken the steps to help him with her he probably would have come to the same conclusion as them when her care became too much. and then for the daughter to go after her mother for the 12,000.00 in court fees she wracked up trying to get her put in an assisted living facility... shouldn't the fact that she finally got what she wanted be enough? This is a true shame because from personal experience i feel like everyone involved had her best interest at heart but not enough communication to get it done in a constructive way.

[CAROL]

a shame wrote:

William Wallace is 7 feet tall. kills men by the hundreds, and he were here.. he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his arse.

What the heck does this mean???!!!

[Firearms Instructor]

Most of you crack me up, you have no idea what it takes to care for a dementia patient. Walk a mile in those shoes first....it will be a very long,very lonely walk. You have no idea how "well" she was being taken care of. What you consider adequate care at home could be negligence by another standard.

[Fly_Moe]

CAROL wrote:

<quoted text>
What the heck does this mean???!!!

Guess you never saw Braveheart. It's a line from Mel Gibson's character, who's name is William Wallace.

[doug]

Rodney Johnson wrote:

They took away this man's dignity, his ability to care for his family, when you take away a man's spirit, his life, his reason for living, he will lash out and do, sometimes, very deadly things to get it back. Didn't work in our minds but I bet it did in his.

i understand his actions as to him and his wife but the killing of the daughter in law was cold blooded murder plain and simple.

[doug]

what is a shame is that we dont provide the homecare that would have made it possable for this women to spend the rest of her days at home. That is a shame.

[Orlando Homegrown]

Firearms Instructor wrote:

Most of you crack me up, you have no idea what it takes to care for a dementia patient. Walk a mile in those shoes first....it will be a very long,very lonely walk. You have no idea how "well" she was being taken care of. What you consider adequate care at home could be negligence by another standard.

You're right about one thing, everyone's standards vary. The husband wantw to care for the wife he has been looking after for years and years just to have his own kids come into the scene and take her away from him. Usually when this happens there is "Inheritance" involved and the kids want to protect their slice of the pie! Yeh, they have all kinds of trumped up reasons but the bottom line is money! That's why we see the kids going after the $12,000 from their poor ailing momma! Doesn't sound to me they were too sympathetic over their parents situation! To get your mother a "Divorce" from the man she has been married to for 50 plus years! Let me tell you, my wife and I have been married 36 years and if one of my kids tried to pull a stunt like that, which they know me better than that, they would not like the out come either! If I was you I'd be looking over my shoulder alot!

[Firearms Instructor]

Orlando Homegrown wrote:

<quoted text>Sounds like you are the same kind of jerk this man's kids are. It's always so easy to paint a picture to support your veiw points when it is just your side of the story being presented. I bet it would be most interesting to hear your dad's side of the story. As for the concealed weapons license, Mr. Wallace didn't have one and he managed to carry out his mission unabated. What you have done by your own admission sounds worse than the case we are discussing, for sure, only your dad's target might be you instead of his wife of many years!

You may take the express train straight to hell. I take care of my mother on a dailey basis. My father however has pretty much abandoned her, did not want to even spend a cent on her care. Between my aunt (her sister) and myself, we are the only ones who can care for her. I took care of her for a year in my home until she became a danger to herself. Now I hope you lose you mind and have your children (I hope you can't breed) decide what's best for you. I have spelled out my wishes and purchased long term care insurance.

[Firearms Instructor]

Orlando Homegrown wrote:

<quoted text>You're right about one thing, everyone's standards vary. The husband wantw to care for the wife he has been looking after for years and years just to have his own kids come into the scene and take her away from him. Usually when this happens there is "Inheritance" involved and the kids want to protect their slice of the pie! Yeh, they have all kinds of trumped up reasons but the bottom line is money! That's why we see the kids going after the $12,000 from their poor ailing momma! Doesn't sound to me they were too sympathetic over their parents situation! To get your mother a "Divorce" from the man she has been married to for 50 plus years! Let me tell you, my wife and I have been married 36 years and if one of my kids tried to pull a stunt like that, which they know me better than that, they would not like the out come either! If I was you I'd be looking over my shoulder alot!

Don't worry you crotchety SOB, I'm better trained in the use of firearms. I feel sorry for your kids though.

[Helio]

"bitterly divided over her care"

Now THERE is an understatement....