Resident charged with rape, murder after 80-year-old woman dies in nursing home: report

An 80-year-old woman was found dead in an Indiana nursing home and now police say a fellow resident has been charged with rape and murder in connection to her death.

Around 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 2, officers were called to the Homestead Healthcare Center in Indianapolis and determined 80-year-old Patricia Newnu’s death was suspicious, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said.

An autopsy was completed on Newnum, which determined she died by asphyxiation by smothering, WTHR reported.

According to authorities, an employee entered Newnum’s room to give her medication when she saw 60-year-old Dwayne Freeman, another resident of the facility, lying on top of the victim, holding a pillow over her face and looking like he was having sex with her.

Freeman was later found in his room, where employees also found an empty bottle of alcohol and they could smell alcohol on his breath, WTHR stated.

When talking with police, Freeman told them he was in Newnum’s room, but “she was already dead” when he was there, according to WTHR. He told detectives he was passing by her room and heard her asking for help, so he went in but denied having been on top of Newnum.

Officials said Freeman eventually admitted to having sex with Newnum, but he said it was consensual and denied putting a pillow on her.

Freeman was arrested and taken to the hospital for a sexual assault suspect exam, WTHR reported.

He was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of rape in connection to the death of Newnum, authorities said.