Simi Wife Sentenced for Abuse

A 69-year-old Simi Valley woman has been sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading no contest to charges of neglecting her ailing husband so severely that he was hospitalized with bedsores.

Shirley Starkey also was placed under house arrest for 360 days by Superior Court Judge Kevin McGee. Starkey could have received up to seven years in prison.

McGee noted Starkey’s advanced age and health problems when handing down his sentence.

It was Starkey’s second conviction for elder abuse.

In June 1997, Starkey was caring for her husband, William, who suffered from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, when he tumbled out of bed and spent a day on the floor in his own waste. His wife eventually called 911 for help, and she was later taken into custody. Starkey pleaded no contest to elder abuse and was given three years’ probation, which required that she provide a safe environment for her husband.

The latest charges stem from a December 1998 incident when Starkey called a neighbor for help to take her husband to the hospital. The neighbor told authorities that he found the ailing man steeped in his own feces and covered with open wounds. William Starkey, who was placed in a nursing home, has since died from ailments unrelated to the incident.

During interviews with police, Starkey said she tried to help her husband, but it was too difficult because he was cantankerous, refusing to use a bedpan or eat anything but milk and dessert. He also refused to go to the hospital, she told authorities.

The second incident was a violation of Starkey’s probation, prompting a hearing May 15. Prosecutors were hoping to finish the probation violation hearing before proceeding to trial on the elder abuse charge.

But during the hearing, Starkey pleaded no contest to the felony charge and agreed to be sentenced that day.

Starkey had pleaded guilty to the same charge in December 2000 but later withdrew the plea after realizing she faced prison time.

McGee sentenced Starkey to 30 days in jail for the probation violation and 90 days under house arrest. He added another 270 days of house arrest for the elder abuse charge.