Murder charges filed in starvation case of elderly woman

A husband and wife accused of killing the woman’s mother remained in jail Thursday, as elder-care authorities said the first-degree murder charge against the couple sends an important message to the community.

Kerstin Fenn, 50, and Toby Fenn, 47, appeared in court Thursday morning and were both ordered held in the Palm Beach County Jail without bond. A grand jury indicted them Tuesday for first-degree murder and aggravated elderly abuse in the death of Kerstin Fenn’s mother, 89-year-old Elly Lorey.

Lorey lived with the Fenns, west of Boca Raton, and, investigators said, the couple secluded Lorey for one year in a filthy room, with feces on the walls and cardboard nailed over the air-conditioning vent to stop the smell from spreading through the house. She died Sept. 18 of malnutrition and dehydration, sheriff’s detectives said.

Read the rest of this story in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.