A family member has been charged over the alleged poisoning deaths of an elderly South Australian couple who died more than a year apart, both aged 94, police say.
Brenda Anderson died at Flinders Medical Centre in March 2022 before her husband Lynton died in May this year after being found unconscious by a carer at home.
A 62-year-old Craigmore woman, who is related to the couple, was charged with two counts of murder on Tuesday, South Australia police said..
It will be alleged the Andersons died from drug overdoses after being deliberately administered medication: in Brenda’s case while she was being treated as a patient at the Noarlunga hospital on 12 March 2022 and when Lynton was at his Hackham home on 30 April 2023.
The family member was expected to be refused police bail and was likely to appear in the Adelaide magistrates court later on Tuesday or on Wednesday, police said.
Last week Det Insp Mark McEachern said concerns about Brenda Anderson’s death had been first raised during the coronial investigation, which examined the toxicology results.
“When an innocent explanation for toxicology abnormalities was eliminated, the possibility of Mrs Anderson’s death being a deliberate act by another party became the primary subject of the investigation,” McEachern said on Thursday.
He said police alleged “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”.
He said police had no concerns about the level of care she received in the hospital and had ruled out anyone there being involved.
Lynton Anderson also died in hospital and there was a similarly concerning toxicology report.
McEachern said investigators alleged that the Andersons had been given a “prescribed medication” that shouldn’t have been in their systems.
– with AAP
