Louis Kornhaber (Mecklenburg County Jail).
A 70-year-old North Carolina man did nothing as his wife of 40 years lay helpless on the floor of their home for more than six months and watched as insects ate away at her bed sores, prosecutors said.
Louis Kornhaber on Friday was found guilty of second-degree murder and neglect of a disabled adult resulting in serious injury in the death of his wife, the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release. Superior Court Judge Matthew J. Osman sentenced Kornhaber to between 94 months and 125 months in prison which works out to seven years and 10 months to 10 years and five months. He will receive credit for the 1,351 days he’s already served in jail.
His wife, Bonnie Kornhaber, returned home on Oct. 6, 2020, after a hospital stay from a medical condition that left her wheelchair-bound. Her husband tied a belt around her chair to keep her in place. At some point, she slipped out of her chair and became stuck on the ground. She laid there between six and eight months, according to prosecutors.
On June 4, 2021, she told her husband that she was having trouble breathing. Instead of calling for help, he went to the den to watch TV for several hours. When he came to check on her, he found that she was unresponsive and not breathing. He then called 911.
First responders were met with a horrific scene. Bonnie Kornhaber was dead, lying on a pile of trash and surrounded by spoiled food. Detectives described it as a “hoarder house.”
“She was covered in her own waste, suffering from extensive sores, with insect activity present in many of the open bed sores on her body,” prosecutors wrote.
The defendant told detectives he failed to call 911 for months because he and his wife were embarrassed by the condition of the home.
Police arrested him shortly after his wife’s death and he’s been in jail ever since. A jury convicted him after a four-day trial, prosecutors said.
