Accused caregiver misses arraignment

Patricia Many started her downward spiral to death after none of her family showed up for her 80th birthday, according to court documents.

But it is the caregiver hired by Many’s son who is charged with first-degree criminal mistreatment. That woman, 35-year-old Sheridan G. Griner, failed to show up in court Monday for her arraignment, prompting Superior Court Judge Michael Price to issue a felony bench warrant for her arrest.

“This is one of those cases where the detective will go out and try to serve the warrant,” said Deputy County Prosecutor Patrick Johnson.

Many died on July 10, 2004, and Griner waited about five hours before alerting authorities about her death in the home near Deer Park, according to court documents.

When Spokane County sheriff’s Deputy Jennifer Sutter arrived at 31726 N. Spotted Road, she found Many’s body covered with bedsores and lying on a bed saturated with urine and feces.

“It’s one thing to read about the conditions,” Johnson said. “It’s another thing entirely when you have photos. They showed the condition this woman was in when she died.”

Spokane County Medical Examiner Dr. Sally Aiken determined that Many weighed 69 pounds and died from marked dehydration and other contributing factors. Aiken listed the manner of death as homicide, according to court records.

Detective Jim Dresback, who investigated the case, learned that the victim’s son, Gerald Many, was paying Griner about $1,900 a month to care for his mother. The care started in 2001, and Patricia Many moved into the home near Deer Park in 2002.

Griner told Dresback that Many was doing fine until May 2004, when no family showed up for the birthday party. Afterward, the woman became sick and started vomiting.

That was about two weeks before her death. Many stopped eating a few days before her death.

“Patricia seemed dazed and not responding,” Dresback quoted Griner as saying. “Sheridan said she tried to feed Patricia popsicles and Gogurt and tried to get her (to) drink water through a straw but the liquid would just go into her mouth and dribble back out.”

Many would not wake up the final two days. On July 10, Griner’s sister and her kids came by to visit. About 11:30 that morning, the children came upstairs from Many’s room and said that “grandma” was “really cold.”

Griner then waited until about 12:30 p.m. before checking on Many. Griner called Gerald Many, but she didn’t call 911 until about 5:15 p.m., Dresback wrote.

Dresback “asked Sheridan why she didn’t call for help during the last four or five days of Patricia’s life and Sheridan said it was because Gerald (Many) told her not to,” Dresback wrote. “Sheridan said Gerald told her to call him because he had made all of the ‘arrangements’ for his mother’s death and it cost too much to call 911.”

Gerald Many confirmed that he instructed Griner not to call for medical help when his mother’s health declined, according to court records.

“He did this because he believed he was honoring his mother’s wishes never to send her to the hospital,” Dresback wrote. “Gerald did instruct Sheridan to call him when his mother died and Gerald saw no reason to spend money on an ambulance.”

Griner told Deputy Sutter that she hadn’t called the family doctor for the previous seven or eight months because Many’s medical coverage had stopped.

But Dr. Daniel Stoop, who works out of the Deer Park Family Clinic, told Dresback that insurance problems were not the reason he didn’t see Many.

Stoop “didn’t see Patricia for over a year because no one called him,” Dresback wrote. “He further believes Patricia’s death is attributed to neglect by her caregiver.”

Griner could not be reached Monday for comment, and a message left at Gerald Many’s home phone was not returned.

Johnson said Griner is the only person facing charges in the case, which wasn’t sent to the prosecutor’s office until late last year. Johnson said he wasn’t sure why the case was delayed.

“I think this was one where the detective wanted to be very careful and present it to us when he got the full picture,” Johnson said.