Woman to Stand Trial in Elderly Abuse Case

For weeks, 68-year-old William Starkey lay in a bed littered with his own feces, eating so little he lost the ability to walk. Bedsores exposed his hipbones.

Authorities said his wife, Shirley, was to blame. On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Ken Riley found there was enough evidence to order the woman to stand trial on a charge of elder abuse, with a special allegation of causing great bodily injury.

If convicted, Shirley Starkey, faces a maximum of seven years in prison.

This is the second time Starkey, 68, of Simi Valley, has faced elder abuse charges. Last April, she pleaded no contest to the same charge for neglecting her husband, who suffers from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. She was placed on probation, the terms of which required her to get counseling and provide a safe, healthy living environment for her husband.

Starkey was arrested most recently after taking her husband to Simi Valley Hospital on Dec. 26. Doctors said he was dehydrated and malnourished and had severe bedsores, Simi Valley Police Officer Brian Stephenson testified Thursday at a preliminary hearing in the case.

The officer said he asked Shirley Starkey why she hadn’t brought her husband to the hospital sooner. “She said he was quite cantankerous and didn’t want to go to the hospital,” Stephenson testified.

Since pleading no contest to the first elder abuse charge, Starkey has received surprise inspections from the probation department, Simi Valley Det. Kathleen Shatz said.

Shatz said she interviewed Shirley Starkey after her second arrest. Starkey denied that her husband had any injuries, the detective said. Deputy Dist. Atty. Audry Rohn said outside court that this is “one of the worst cases of elder abuse I’ve seen.”

Rohn said Starkey is now living in a full care facility.