New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph A. Foster, State Police Colonel Robert L. Quinn, and Meredith Police Chief Kevin A. Morrow announce that an investigation is ongoing regarding a death that occurred in Meredith, New Hampshire.

On Wednesday evening, March 16, 2016, authorities responded to the Golden View Health Care Center in Meredith, New Hampshire. Once there, they learned that nursing staff had intervened after a male resident, Donald Sleeper (age 87), was discovered in the process of physically assaulting a female resident, Barbara Whittier (age 82), inside her room. Despite emergency medical treatment, Mrs. Whittier died that day.

At the time of the incident, Mr. Sleeper had been a resident at Golden View since the fall of 2015. After the incident, he was transported from Golden View to another medical facility. Mr. Sleeper has severe Alzheimer's dementia.

The New Hampshire Office of the Chief Medical examiner conducted an autopsy of Mrs. Whittier on March 17, 2016. Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jennie V. Duval has determined that Mrs. Whittier's cause of death was hypertensive and coronary heart disease, with a contributing cause of attempted strangulation. The manner of death was homicide.

The investigation into the circumstances that led to Mrs. Whittier's death is ongoing.