Inset: Margaret Louise Rog (North Central Regional Jail). Background: The 100 block of Orchard Crossing in Morgantown, W.Va., where Rog allegedly left her husband on the toilet for 19 hours (Google Maps).
A West Virginia woman is accused of leaving her 76-year-old husband on a toilet for 19 hours after he was unable to stand up on his own, never calling for help and going to bed as he groaned in pain and passed out.
Margaret Louise Rog, 75, is charged with abuse of an incapacitated adult with a substantial risk of death.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, the victim was admitted to the hospital on Aug. 21. Cops say a speech therapist arrived for an in-home visit to find the man in “dangerously poor condition and unresponsive on the toilet.” The man was rushed to the hospital, where he died on Aug. 31.
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.
Per the complaint, the man suffered from a number of health ailments, including dementia, Alzheimer’s and legal blindness, among others. Rog was her husband’s caregiver.
She told deputies with the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office that her husband went to the bathroom about 3 p.m. on Aug. 20 at the home in the 100 block of Orchard Crossing in Morgantown, per the complaint. He was unable to stand up on his own. Rog tried to get him up but was unable to do so, cops wrote.
For the next 19 hours, Rog allegedly ignored her husband as he was “groaning in pain.” She did not call 911 or anyone for help, nor did she give him food, water or his medications, cops wrote.
Rog allegedly went to bed that night and “left her husband unattended and unresponsive in the bathroom,” the complaint stated. The victim remained on the toilet until the speech therapist arrived in the morning and called 911, cops said.
By the time he arrived at the hospital, he was suffering from sepsis and heart failure, along with wounds on his backside.
Cops say Rog made several incriminating statements indicating she understood her husband was in need of medical assistance but “deliberately decided against providing any.”
An autopsy concluded that the injuries sustained while stuck on the toilet were “significant contributing factors to his death.”
Rog was arrested on Tuesday and taken to the North Central Regional Jail, where she has since posted a $75,000 bond. Her next court date is set for Sept. 25.
The post Wife left 76-year-old husband stuck on toilet for 19 hours, went to bed as she ignored his pleas to help him and became unresponsive: Cops first appeared on Law & Crime.
