Inset: Kathy Lawton (Pueblo police). Background: The Bonaventure Assisting Living Center in Pueblo, Colorado, where Lawton stabbed her husband to death (Google Maps).
A 73-year-old woman repeatedly stabbed her octogenarian husband after an argument at their apartment in a Colorado assisted living facility and then tried to blame his injuries on a fall.
Kathy Lawton was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday after a jury in December convicted her of second-degree murder in the death of her 85-year-old husband Larry Lawton in Pueblo, which is about 110 miles south of Denver. Cops responded on Nov. 24, 2024, to the Bonaventure Assisted Living Center after a “hysterical” Kathy Lawton ran to the front desk covered in blood and told staff her husband was dead.
Staff members called 911 and ran to the room where they found the victim laying on the ground suffering from at least three stab wounds to his chest area, a probable cause arrest affidavit stated. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Cops noted Kathy Lawton smelled of booze and could not provide a consistent account of how her husband died. When an officer asked her what happened, she said “He fell on the floor, he laid there, and he wouldn”t get up.” She admitted they both had been drinking during the night and had gotten into an argument, although she couldn’t remember what it was about.
Officers noted it appeared there had been a struggle in the apartment. They also found a bloody knife that someone had apparently tried to wipe clean. Larry Lawton also suffered several defensive wounds.
Staff at the facility also told cops that Kathy Lawton had previously assaulted her husband. He had scratches and bruises on his body but he chalked it up to being “clumsy,” cops wrote. Staff also previously removed a gun and kitchen knives from their apartment.
After the suspect signed a Miranda agreement to speak with detectives, her first thought was apparently not about her husband. Instead, she asked the detective if he owned any pets. She told him she had two cats.
Speaking about her husband’s death, she said she discovered his body when he didn’t come to bed and she went to check on him. She said she worked as a paramedic and knew he was deceased when she saw him because “he had dead eyes.” She said she had become frustrated with him in recent weeks because he recently had back surgery, which made him weaker, and he was not rehabbing properly.
Cops arrested Kathy Lawton and charged her with murder.
“Our community deserves accountability in all cases but especially in cases where a vulnerable victim is targeted. While no sentence can undo the harm caused by this defendant, today’s sentence affirms the District Attorney’s commitment to pursuing justice with diligence and resolve,” 10th Judicial District Attorney Kala Beauvais said in a statement.
