SA Police suspect two elderly people, who died one year apart, may have been murdered by the same person after abnormalities in both of their toxicology reports were found.
Key points:
- Brenda Anderson died in 2022 and her husband Lynton died just over a year later
- Police said there were abnormalities in their toxicology reports
- They have identified a suspect
Brenda Anderson died on March 16, 2022 and her husband Lynton died on May 1, 2023.
They were both 94 years old.
Police said they have identified a suspect but “won’t elaborate further”.
Detective Inspector Mark McEachern said Mrs Anderson was being treated for medical issues at Noarlunga Hospital, south of Adelaide, on March 12, before her condition deteriorated and she was transferred to the Flinders Medical Centre.
“Mrs Anderson’s hospital death was identified during the coronial investigation process after toxicology results gave significant rise for concern,” he said.
“When an innocent explanation for toxicology abnormalities was eliminated, the possibility Mrs Anderson’s death being a deliberate act by another party became the primary subject of the investigation.
“It is believed Mrs Anderson was killed by a person known to her and in close enough relationship to have been visiting her while she was in hospital.”
Detective McEachern said police had no concerns over the level of care in either hospital, but suspected the events that led to Mrs Anderson’s death were carried out during her hospital stay.
“We believe whatever occurred, occurred while she was in hospital, probably on the day she was found to be in a very poor state of health, which was the 12th of March last year,” he said.
Mr Anderson was found by a carer to be unconscious at his home address at Hackham on April 30, 2023.
He was taken to Flinders Medical Centre by ambulance and died the following day.
Toxicology results for Mr Anderson also raised concerns.
Detective Inspector McEachern said they would not elaborate on the nature of the relationship between the suspect and the couple, but said “suffice to say they were close enough to them to be in contact with both people leading up to their deaths”.
He said police had ruled out carers involved with Mr Anderson’s care.
‘Medication found in their systems’
Detective McEachern said police believe the two were given a “prescribed medication”.
“The toxicology in both people was quite similar in so far as raising our suspicion that the medication that was in there should not have been in there, there was no reason for the medication to have been in their system and that’s raised concerns in respect to both deaths, significant concerns to the point now where we believe both were murdered,” he said.
He said the police have been working with the wider family for a number of months.
“It’s fair to say they’re shocked by the information that we’ve been providing.”
Police are appealing to anyone that may have had contact with Mr and Mrs Anderson and may have knowledge of their deaths and the circumstances that led to them, in particular anyone that may have knowledge of prescribed or non-prescribed medications each were using or had spoken about.
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