Jury Selection Set to Take Place in Pennsylvania Nursing Home Death Case

By Daniel Hawn

Published on January 02, 2007

The trial stems from the death of 88-year-old Mabel Taylor on Oct. 26, 2001. Taylor, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, allegedly left her room at the facility and went through a door leading to an outside courtyard on a 40 degree night. Her body was found in the morning by Atrium employees. An autopsy showed she died of heart disease aggravated by exposure.

The door through which Taylor exited should have triggered an alarm, but testimony in previous court proceedings indicates that the alarm did not ring, and also that Atrium employees illegally disabled the alarm in order to smoke outside undetected.

According to the prosecution, Bell persuaded the supervisor on duty to return Taylor’s body to her bed, heat the body, and then falsify reports to conceal the nature of Taylor’s death. Taylor’s family was initially told she died peacefully in bed, but later discovered the truth. The supervisor, Kathy Galati, is set to be tried for conspiracy and perjury on Jan. 16.

In October, Bell was sentenced to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine in a separate case after being convicted of health care fraud and making false statements about health care matters. She plans to appeal the convictions.

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