Ex-nursing home worker guilty of torture

VAN NUYS, Calif., April 9 (UPI) -- A former worker at a California retirement home who witnesses said laughed as he assaulted elderly residents has been convicted of torture and elder abuse.

Cesar Ulloa, 21, who had been a caregiver at the pricey retirement home in Calabasas in the San Fernando Valley, could receive life in prison when he is sentenced in May, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Jurors at a Van Nuys court found the Reseda resident guilty of all eight counts against him after deliberating about 5 hours Thursday.

Prosecutors said some of Ulloa's victims suffered so much dementia they could not call for help, and witnesses said he laughed as he attacked victims.

Fellow workers at Silverado Senior Living provided graphic details of Ulloa's attacks. One said he jumped on the chest of a mute 78-year-old woman, then body-slammed her into a bed. Other employees said Ulloa had jumped off a dresser and landed with both knees on an elderly resident's abdomen and tried to start a fight between two other residents.

The Times said investigators began looking into Ulloa after the widow of a former Silverado resident got an anonymous call the day after her husband's funeral suggesting his 2007 death may not have been from natural causes.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies exhumed the body of the former resident, Elmore Kittower, and an autopsy found blunt-force trauma was a contributing factor in his death. More than two dozen broken bones, in various stages of healing, were discovered.

Kittower's wife, Rita, 86, cried throughout the trial, and jurors cried when she testified.

"My husband can now rest in peace," she said after the verdict. "And I can live in peace."

Deputy District Attorney Robin Allen said the truth "already went to the grave with Mr. Kittower, but we were able to bring those facts up from the grave."

Silverado officials denied wrongdoing and pledged to keep the retirement home safe for residents.

Daniel Teola, Ulloa's attorney, said the charges were based on unfounded rumors among the facility's employees and noted Ulloa had been named employee of the month.