Horrified nursing home staff heard blood-curdling screams as an 87 year-old man with dementia brutally murdered his 83 year-old care home neighbor, it is claimed.
Clifton Bourne is said to have repeatedly whacked 83 year-old Lloyd Godfrey's head against concrete inside their nursing home in the Bronx on Friday.
The New York Post reported that Godfrey was found lying face down inside the Pinnacle Multicare Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, with Bourne - who was soaked in his alleged victim's blood - arrested and charged with murder shortly afterwards.
Bourne's dementia diagnosis was shared with the Daily News by police sources.
'There's no clear and concise reason' for the attack, an NYPD spokesman told The Post on Saturday.
Bourne's ex-wife Elise Freeman said she was struggling to believe he could have murdered someone.
She told the Post: 'I know him very well. There is no way, no way he would have done something like that. He is scared of his own shadow.
'They are putting this on him. He is a peacemaker…. Where were the workers? Nobody saw anything?'
Police found Lloyd Godfrey, 83, dead in this Bronx nursing home Friday evening
The suspect, Clifton Bourne, 87, was also a patient in the nursing home and is said to suffer from dementia. Police arrested him and charged him with murder
The spokesperson said an investigation is ongoing, and it is unclear if charges against Bourne may be modified or dropped due to his alleged medical condition.
The Alzheimer's Society said aggressiveness is a byproduct of dementia.
'People with dementia have the same needs we all have. These include the need to be comfortable and free from pain, able to interact with other people, to feel engaged and stimulated and to feel well in ourselves,' the society said on its website.
But people who suffer from dementia may not be able to recognize their needs or let others know what they need, the Alzheimer's society said.
Their needs can be physical - including pain or discomfort from something as simple as constipation, medication side effects, or hallucinations or delusions.
Other needs could by psychological or social - including frustration because they can't do what they normally could do or they aren't being listened to, misunderstanding caregivers' intentions, or feeling isolated.
'This may cause them to act in ways that others might find challenging, including aggressively. The aggressive behavior might be the person's way of trying to achieve what they need. It may be a sign of a need that isn't being met or an attempt to communicate it,' according to their website.
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