A 61-year-old man was reportedly beaten to death with his own walker in the laundry room of his retirement home last Friday after a conflict with a septuagenarian over use of the washing machine.
“A preliminary investigation into this incident revealed that William Paschall assaulted the victim while he was in the laundry room after becoming angry because the victim was using the washing machine. “An employee attempted to intervene,” Joliet, Illinois, police said in a statement on Facebook on Sunday.
On Friday around 9:25 p.m., police were called to Salem Village Nursing and Rehabilitation Home after the 71-year-old man violently attacked another resident of the facility.
When they arrived, the victim was lying on the ground and unresponsive, having suffered blows to the head, likely from a walker. According to police, despite attempts at resuscitation and first aid, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene by the Will County Coroner’s Office.
For his part, William Paschall was arrested at the scene and taken to Joliet police before being charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault on a person 60 years old or older, he said.
The coroner opened an inquest to shed light on the events.