Source: Roommate under investigation in nursing home killing

DARTMOUTH, Mass.—The roommate of a 100-year-old Massachusetts woman who was found strangled in her nursing home bed, is being looked at by investigators, a source close to the investigation told Boston television station WHDH on Thursday.

Sources told NBC 10 that the case is front of a grand jury.

Elizabeth Barrow was found dead by workers on Sept. 24 during a routine check of patients at Brandon Woods nursing home. Bristol County District Attorney Samuel Sutter said Wednesday the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide by strangulation.

Sutter said investigators are considering all possible angles and didn’t comment on a suspect or a motive. Sutter also said he’s not concerned that the murder was a random act.

“I’m quite certain that the nursing home is going to take precautions based upon what the medial examiner has ruled and we’re going to be working in conjunction with them on that,“ Sutter said.

Scott Picone, the nursing home’s chief of operations, told NBC 10 that he’s confident that all the residents are safe. Picone said that the nursing home is cooperating with the authorities on their investigation. He also said that Barrow’s death has hit the nursing home hard.

Barrow lived at Brandon Woods for more than four years. Her son, Scott, told NBC 10 that the facility was top notch and that she was well cared for there.

“She loved it there. Everyone was wonderful to her. She had lots of friends. Although she was one of the oldest people there, she would go to the others and give them hugs and kisses,“ he said.

State records show Brandon Woods scored below the state average in performance surveys in the past two years, but had no major violations.

Barrow’s son told NBC 10 that the family took her out to lunch and went shopping for winter clothes the day before she died.

He said the family celebrated his mother’s 100th birthday on Aug. 21.

“She had a good party. I hadn’t seen her that happy in years,“ he said.

Barrow said his mother was born and grew up in New Bedford before moving to nearby Dartmouth, about 50 miles south of Boston, in the 1940s.

When she was in her 20s, Barrow said his mother was a teacher in the New Bedford Textile School and was dubbed “Miss Rayon” by the New Bedford Rayon Co. As the official representative of the company that manufactured the new miracle fabric used in the city’s tire industry, she traveled all over New England and New York.

She worked for Bishop Stang High School and the Dartmouth public schools for about two decades as a cafeteria worker, where she was known as the “dessert lady,“ he said.

Elizabeth Barrow and her husband, A. Raymond, moved to Brandon Woods about 4 1/2 years ago, he said. Her husband was a former town assessor and owned a gas station in town.

She took care of her husband of 65 years until he died two years ago. After he passed away, Barrow said his mother continued to be “upbeat” with her family and friends.

The Associated Press contributed to this report