The State - News from March 23, 1986

An infirm 96-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of killing his best friend in Modesto. Police said they found Joseph S. Sadler lying on a couch on top of a .357-caliber revolver that had been fired once. His friend and neighbor, Henry Werner, 81, was found fatally wounded outside Sadler’s front porch and died a short time later at a nearby hospital. Werner and his wife, Selina, cared for Sadler, who could barely walk. They bathed him, ran his errands and took him out to eat, neighbor Suzanne Robinson said. “We’re still trying to determine what the heck happened,” police Sgt. Jim Watson said. “We’re not even sure he knew he was shooting Werner.” After his arrest, Sadler was placed alone in a cell, but steps were being taken to move him to another facility, perhaps a convalescent hospital, police said.