Background: The Assumption Parish Detention Center in Napoleonville, Louisiana (Google Maps). Inset: Markus Stadium (Assumption Parish Sheriff”s Office).
A health care worker is accused of burning a patient with a lighter and then telling the victim’s family he was bitten by wasps, Louisiana authorities say.
Markus Stadium, 36, has been charged with “cruelty to the infirmed,” the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday. The underlying incident is believed to have occurred earlier this month.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
The unidentified victim was brought to a health care facility “for treatment” in Assumption Parish, which is located west of New Orleans in the southern part of the state. At some point, Stadium — a “healthcare attendant” at the unnamed facility — told the victim’s family that he “had been bitten by wasps,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Family members were skeptical, according to authorities, for two reasons. There was the “nature” of the injuries, as well as the “frequency” of the injuries. On Oct. 6, the health care organization contacted the sheriff’s office, reporting that the patient “may be the victim of abuse.”
Investigators spoke with medical personnel, “who indicated the victim was burned on multiple occasions throughout his body,” the law enforcement agency said. The investigation continued — and found an alleged cause of the burns. There was reportedly evidence of “Stadium burning the victim with a barbecue grill type lighter.”
An arrest warrant was subsequently secured for the suspect, and he is said to have turned himself in to the Assumption Parish Detention Center on Tuesday. He is being held on a $1 million bond.
