CARBONDALE TOWNSHIP, Pa. – A Pennsylvania woman has been charged after police said she covered her 53-year-old husband with cat litter after he was injured in an ATV accident while on a walk weeks before.
Catherine Maijala, 60, was charged by Pennsylvania State Police after David Maijala was taken to Geisinger Community Medical Center in September. He had broken bones and was covered in his own waste as well as cat litter, WBRE reported.
David Maijala also had a sore on his back. A nurse said was so deep that she could nearly see his spine.
Doctors said the sore was several inches in diameter and was listed as a stage IV ulcer, the Scranton Times-Tribune reported.
David Maijala was taken to the hospital by paramedics with a letter from his wife that claimed he had been hit by an ATV on Aug. 20. Neither decided at the time of the accident that he needed medical help.
Paramedics had been called to help a person who was experiencing hip pain. When they got there they said they found human waste and garbage in the home and David Maijala on the floor covered in cat litter and a sheet, WBRE reported.
Catherine Maijala told paramedics that she used the cat litter because her husband had been soiling himself and it was impossible to care for him.
Doctors said David Maiala had urine scalds, bedsores, and that the sore on his back would have taken weeks to develop. He was also dehydrated and malnourished. The back wounds alone could have killed him, doctors told police.
Police said Catherine Maijala put the cat litter on her husband for three days before paramedics were called and brought him food, water and pain relievers, but didn’t call for help prior because her husband was “a hard person to deal with,” WBRE reported.
David Maijala died Oct. 23 according to his obituary, the Scranton Times-Tribune reported. He had been in hospice care for almost two months.
An autopsy was performed on David Maijala, and officials are waiting for the official cause of death, the newspaper reported.
He had suffered a stroke years ago, and his wife was his caretaker, police said.
Adult Protective Services had tried to help the couple in the past, but the aid was refused by Catherine Maijala, officials said.
She faces charges of felony neglect of a care-dependent person. She was placed in Lackawanna County Prison this week in lieu of $20,000 bail, the Times-Tribune reported.
FILE PHOTO: A woman has been charged after her husband was taken to a hospital covered in kitty litter.
