Health of Murder Suspect, 91, Is Improving, Jailers Tell Judge

Jail officials say they should have no problem caring for an ailing, 91-year-old Fillmore man who is accused of killing his wife, now that he is regaining his strength in jail, eating well and is mostly lucid, according to a memo submitted in court Wednesday.

In the latest effort to keep Ventura County’s oldest-ever murder defendant in jail as he awaits trial, Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald Glynn argued that the memo should lay to rest any question about where Alfred Pohlmeier should be housed.

Pohlmeier’s attorney, Susan Olson, has been waging a campaign to free the retired postal worker because, she argued, jail was killing the man.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. delayed deciding where to house Pohlmeier and ordered lawyers back to court next Wednesday to discuss the matter.

Last month, Pohlmeier was hospitalized for emergency brain surgery after he fell in his cell. After a six-day stay in Ventura County Medical Center, Pohlmeier was returned to jail, spending his days disoriented, unable to walk and curled in a fetal position on his bunk, Olson said.

But jailers hired a nurse to care for Pohlmeier around the clock, and in the past few weeks “his physical health has improved since his return from the hospital” enough that jailers are confident they can care for him, head jailer Geoffrey Dean wrote in the memo sent to Glynn, Olson and Campbell.

That should be enough to keep Pohlmeier where he is until his trial begins early next month, Glynn said.

“That’s what we do with people accused of murder--we keep them in jail,” Glynn said. From the outset, the prosecutor has maintained that Pohlmeier is an accused killer and should be treated like every murder defendant in Ventura County. And, at least initially, Campbell has refused to allow Pohlmeier’s release.

But since Pohlmeier’s stay in the hospital, Campbell has implored attorneys to find a solution to a legal dilemma worthy of Solomon. A solution has yet to be found.

Officials with Ventura County Mental Health Services declined to take responsibility for Pohlmeier, while Olson has rejected Glynn’s suggestion that her client be housed in a locked ward at Camarillo State Hospital.

Instead, Olson continues to argue for Pohlmeier’s release to either a private elderly care facility or to family members, who initially said they could not afford to care for him in his declining state.

Since Pohlmeier has recovered somewhat, Olson said his family could now care for him and the judge should release him, without bail, to their care. If he is not released from jail, Olson said, there is still a good chance that Pohlmeier’s condition will deteriorate again.

“That is why his health slipped in the first place,” she said.

The memo indicates that Pohlmeier “can sometime carry on lucid conversations, while at other times he is disoriented about his circumstance and surroundings.”

He remains jailed in lieu of $250,000, the standard bail for murder defendants. Pohlmeier is accused of strangling his wife of 63 years because her persistent cough kept him awake nights.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Pohlmeier faces a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison.