Connecticut
CT DSS orders patients transferred out of Windsor Locks nursing home over safety concerns
A nursing home in Windsor Locks will have to transfer all its residents by April 10 due to safety concerns, according to the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS).
The order comes a month after a 93-year-old Margaret “Peggy” Healey, who police said had Alzheimer’s or dementia, was found lying in the snow outside the Bickford Health Care Center.
Staff at Bickford found Healey lying in the snow at 5:07 a.m on Feb. 8., three hours and 17 minutes after she left the building, according to police.
Patrol officers were called to Bickford at 6:23 a.m., four and a half hours after Healey was seen exiting. She was pronounced dead at 6:46 a.m., police said.
Healey, who had Alzheimer’s or dementia, left through an employee entrance at the back of the building, which is designed to stay closed and locked, according to police. Detectives learned that the door is often left propped open and that the keypad access code is printed nearby.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) looked into Bickford following Healey’s death, and found the facility violated several state statutes in its response before and after Healey was found. DPH also said that Healey’s medical file at the facility did not include her “wandering behaviors” and interventions.
In the report, DPH also said that the facility failed to ensure that three emergency exit doors were maintained, and failed to ensure that the doors fully closed and latched after opening, or sounded an alarm when opened.
DPH also found other operational violations in the facility, including a lack of paperwork for radiology and lab work, as well as a failure to provide evidence of physician coverage for 24-hour coverage.
“The commissioner finds that the health, safety, and welfare of the patients in the facility is jeopardized,” DSS said.
DSS appointed a temporary manager for Bickford and will transfer all patients from the facility to participating facilities.
“This order reflects our commitment to ensuring that the individuals who call Bickford home are moved to safe, appropriate settings as quickly and compassionately as possible,” said DSS Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves. “The Temporary Manager will work closely with DSS, DPH, and the Long Term Care Ombudsman (LTCO) to ensure each resident receives the care and support they need throughout this transition.”
“Ensuring the health, safety, and dignity of nursing home residents is a responsibility we take seriously at the Department of Public Health,” said DPH Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD. “Our investigation made clear that the residents of Bickford Health Care Center deserved better. We are committed to working closely with DSS and the LTCO to ensure every individual is transitioned with care to a setting where they can receive the quality care they need and deserve.”
Connecticut
Connecticut ‘house of horrors’ wicked stepmom hides face for hearing on anniversary of arrest
The Connecticut “House of Horrors” mom accused of imprisoning her stepson in foul conditions for over 20 years hid her face as she scurried to and from court on the anniversary of her arrest.
Kimberly Sullivan, 57, ducked for cover as she rushed from her car to a Waterbury court for a brief hearing Thursday, and then back out minutes later.
Sullivan refused to answer questions like “What’s wrong with you, why did you do that to your stepson?” as she passed with sunglasses on and a hood over her face.
She was sporting her typically flamboyant looks – purple hair and a suit to match.
Sullivan is accused of keeping her stepson – now 33 – locked in a filthy room in their Waterbury home beginning when he was around 10, only letting him out for a few hours so he could do chores.
The stepson – currently known only as “S” in public — weighed just 68 pounds when he was discovered in February 2025 after he apparently set fire to his room in a desperate escape attempt.
Police initially thought they were dealing with a typical housefire, but S soon began telling terrifying tales of being taken out of school as a boy, before being relegated to the upstairs storage room that allegedly became his prison-home for decades.
Sullivan was arrested within weeks, but soon freed on $300,000 bail while being ordered not to contact her stepson.
She was in court for barely two minutes a year later on Thursday, with her attorney discussing logistics for obtaining the stepson’s medical records as trial preparations are underway.
Sullivan won a major legal breakthrough in October when a judge granted her access to the medical records after her attorneys argued the typically confidential information was crucial to the defense.
“We are really trying to see what evidence they have and what evidence they are going to produce at trial. I don’t know what’s in there. We’ll know when we see them,” Sullivan’s attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, told reporters after the hearing.
“It wasn’t true then and it’s not true now,” Kaloidis added when asked whether Sullivan really did starve her stepson – but he refused to comment when asked why S weighed just 68-pounds when rescued from the housefire.
“We’ll see,” the attorney told The Post, shrugging.
Sullivan has been in hiding since she was arrested – with her attorney saying she’d been branded “public enemy number one” in the last year.
“As you can imagine, any time your face is plastered all over the news, you become public enemy number one. It does make it difficult to go out and resume a normal life,” Kaloidis.
It remains unclear where Sullivan has been living, but the home she shared with her stepson was left a scorched husk after the February fire.
The stepson remains in an undisclosed location, and has reportedly been recovering well after a hospital stay.
Sullivan is due back in court on April 30, and is charged with kidnapping, assault, unlawful restraint and cruelty to persons. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Connecticut
State adds charges against Waterbury woman accused of holding stepson captive for decades
The Waterbury woman accused of holding her stepson captive for decades faced a judge for the first time since October.
Thursday marks one year since her arrest in this case.
The state brought new charges against Sullivan Thursday. The charges mirror the ones she already faced — assault in the first degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree, and cruelty to persons. But there are now two counts of kidnapping in the first degree, which is different from the one count of kidnapping in the second degree that she faced initially.
New paperwork of substitute information filed by Waterbury Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Donald Therkildsen indicates the change.
“In between the dates of Summer 2004, and February 17, 2025, at or near 2 Blake Street, Waterbury, Connecticut, the said Kimberly Sullivan, did, abduct another person and restrain the person abducted with intent accomplish and advance the commission of a felony,” the document reads.
In Connecticut, kidnapping in the first degree has potential for a higher penalty than kidnapping in the second degree, if convicted.
Sullivan’s defense attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, says these revisions do not change the plan of proceedings going forward.
“It’s similar to what’s been already alleged. I don’t really think it changes too much on our end,” he said.
Sullivan is accused by her stepson of holding him captive in their home for more than twenty years. Her stepson, who goes by the name of ‘S’, set fire to his home on Blake Street last February at age 32, telling first responders he did so to be free from his stepmother. S alleges she held him captive in the home for decades with little food and water and with no formal education.
Kaloidis has vehemently denied the allegations this entire year.
“This wasn’t true then, and it’s not true now,” said Kaloidis.
He says the past year has been challenging for Sullivan.
“As you can imagine, anytime your face is plastered all over the news, and you become public enemy number one, it’s hard to live a normal life,” Kaloidis said.
Sullivan appeared very briefly Thursday, where both sides to agreed to view all of S’s medical records as part of the discovery phase.
“The suponea has arrived, we’re asking they be unsealed,” said Therkildsen.
“It’s really what the state is alleging. We really want to see what evidence they have and what evidence they produce at trial. I don’t know what’s in there, we’ll know it when we see it,” said Kaloidis.
After a year of pretrial proceedings, the judge is waiving Sullivan’s need to appear next time.
“The lawyers will be discussing potential offers and from there we’ll set the final date,” the judge said.
Sullivan’s defense has been adamant that they would not accept a plea deal unless the case was thrown out, meaning they intend for this to be heard at trial.
That next court date is April 30.
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