Lawyers Vexed, Judge Perplexed in Strange Case of Alfred Pohlmeier : Courts: His lawyer says jail is killing the inmate, 91. Prosecutors have little sympathy for the accused murderer. And the jurist has delayed his decision.

Nobody knows what to do about Alfred Pohlmeier.

Jailed since September for allegedly strangling his wife of 62 years, Pohlmeier turned 91 three weeks ago. He is currently the oldest inmate in the Ventura County Jail and, as far as anyone knows, the oldest murder defendant in county history.

Pohlmeier was too feeble to appear in court Monday, where attorneys and Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell discussed his fate without reaching a conclusion.

Campbell delayed deciding the issue until Dec. 27. At defense lawyer Susan Olson’s request, the judge ordered mental health officials to prepare a report that could lead to Pohlmeier being named a ward of the county.

Olson said her client is incoherent, bedridden and in declining health. She fears he will die soon if not set free. Jail officials, who admit they are not used to caring for the elderly, have hired nurses to keep a 24-hour watch over the retired postal worker.

Campbell rejected Olson’s plea to free Pohlmeier on Nov. 1. Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald C. Glynn has resisted every move to reduce Pohlmeier’s $250,000 bail.

Pohlmeier is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly strangling his 86-year-old wife, Lidwina. The crime carries a minimum prison sentence of 25 years--a de facto death sentence if Pohlmeier is convicted. And Glynn vigorously argues that Pohlmeier should be treated like any other murder defendant and remain in custody.

Campbell called for Monday’s hearing upon learning that Pohlmeier was rushed to the hospital last week for brain surgery after falling in his cell.

So what to do with him?

“If I knew, I would be Solomon,” said Olson, echoing the frustration of everybody involved with the case.

Not even his family knows what to do. Olson said she did not ask Campbell to free Pohlmeier on Monday because his family does not have the money or the means to care for him.

His son, Joseph Pohlmeier of Simi Valley, did not return phone calls on Monday.

Olson hopes that county officials can figure out what to do with Pohlmeier if the Ventura County public guardian becomes his conservator. Jail is killing him, Olson said.

Jailers rushed the Fillmore man to the hospital last week after he fell in his cell and seriously injured his head. After six days in the hospital--with a deputy posted at his bedside 24 hours a day--Pohlmeier returned to his one-man cell in the Ventura County Jail, where he spends his days curled in a fetal position on his cot, Olson said.

But Glynn is resolute that Pohlmeier should stay in jail.

“No one speaks of poor Mrs. Pohlmeier,” Glynn said in a motion opposing Pohlmeier’s release. “But the manner in which Mr. Pohlmeier chose to end her life was probably one of the least humane ways that he could have chosen. How she was killed was probably her worst nightmare.”

Glynn has proposed sending Pohlmeier to Camarillo State Hospital, which has secure medical wings, instead of placing him in a private elderly care facility.

“Notwithstanding his infirmity, the idea that other elderly members of the community be forced to share beds next door to, or on the same floor with, this murderer is outrageous,” Glynn wrote. “Would anyone of us feel comfortable with Mr. Pohlmeier sharing the same convalescent facility with an infirm family member, much less an individual who suffers from coughing spells?”

Investigators testified before the grand jury that Pohlmeier strangled his wife because he was upset with her constant coughing and was unable to sleep at night.

The killing has shocked and puzzled the quiet Fillmore retirement village of the El Dorado Senior Mobile Home Park where the Pohlmeiers had lived since 1977. Neighbors say they want to help the man they remember as a talkative Texas native who bore no malice to anyone, but that they can’t reconcile the notion that he might be a killer.

“Unbelievable,” said Al Rosette, manager of the park. “We were all just thunderstruck.”

Rosette said Pohlmeier liked to play billiards in the park’s recreation center, but was often called away by his wife, whom neighbors described as ailing and demanding.

“I think he just snapped,” said next-door neighbor Harry Thompson. “He just got so frustrated, and he was not getting any rest.”

Thompson joined about 60 other park residents in signing a petition in support of Alfred Pohlmeier in hopes of persuading Campbell to lower his bail.

“You would think that somebody that committed murder would not have this kind of support,” Rosette said. “But that is just not the case. That’s what makes this all very strange.”