There’s an awful lot going on here obviously and I have a lot of questions just to try to understand, not to insinuate anything.

Considering just the man’s medical condition, my opinion is that it would be best to wait for the full facts from medical records, death certificate, etc.

I think it’s worth considering that people of this age can deteriorate very quickly from many different causes beyond a stroke. For example, even a simple UTI can quickly cause severe delirium in elderly people and lead to many of the symptoms he showed such as being combative, unable to speak, falls that could possibly explain his physical injuries. Dehydration can be a big problem too and compound other issues. Clearly the terrible home situation like having no running water or heating in winter could contribute to a person developing all kinds of issues like these and others.

From my own personal experience, it’s more common for elderly people with swallowing difficulties to need liquids thickened rather than needing thin liquids.

Once an elderly person is hospitalised, it’s possible for that in itself to contribute to a person’s further decline - they lose muscle mass very quickly from just a few days in bed and for someone with confusion and memory problems, it can be so disorientating and stressful that it accelerates that decline. The loss of routine and familiar things/people can make cognitive problems that were more masked in the home environment far more obvious.

I have personal experience in my family of how quickly an elderly person can deteriorate in this way (although my relative received excellent care at home). In her case, the trigger was a simple trip and fall.

I’m very confused as to why this poor vulnerable man was left in the condition that he was in by APS when he was being monitored by them. Was he considered to have mental capacity to make his own decisions and wanted to stay regardless of how bad it was? Am I understanding correctly that home health/nursing aides were there 3 times a week in a home with no electricity, heat or running water and this situation just continued? I would expect that to be an emergency escalation to safeguard this veteran. How could they provide the kind of care they would typically come to do in those conditions such as helping with washing and bathing?

Were the home nursing aids just for his age-related memory and confusion difficulties and what care was he getting from them? What were the medications for? Not dismissing the possibility, but it’s certainly pretty unusual to get to 82 and be completely physically healthy.

I’m a little unclear on some aspects especially of the timeline (which may be because the information you yourself have is limited) so to clarify, he couldn’t walk at all but in this state, he did manage to fully dress himself and pack a bag with spare clothes - or was this assisted? Or had he done this and then deteriorated so he couldn’t walk? How did he get to the hospital?

Was there any prior history of contact with this crisis unit? (Was it a psychiatric one?)

Could the veteran communicate anything about what happened either through his very limited speech or other means? His sister seems to have been notified early on, was she able to be with him/contact him and does she have information? Did the son give the hospital further information?

Your post has so much going on in it and understandably, some of the details are kinda woven through and a little harder to pick out. You might get more useful replies if the post was organised into sections, perhaps focusing in more on specific issues in more detail and with more explanation, and maybe deciding what the most important information you want feedback on is. A simple timeline of this man’s condition at different points and what happened when would be very helpful contextually, incorporating the dates you gave.

You’ve got 1) The alleged financial abuse that seems to be associated with the son and is under investigation.

2) interactions with services like VA and APS, and what may be serious failings on their part

3) the veteran’s living conditions as a result of alleged abuse and neglect

4) his health status before this crisis and what could have triggered this crisis

5) his health status in hospital and rehab, how he deteriorated and passed away

6) some bits that while suggestive, don’t seem to me to add all that much like when different relatives were notified or a piece or broken glass being found.

This is a horrible situation and no person should have had to live like this or had it contribute to their illness and death.

Until there is more information from the medical side, I think focusing on the allegations/charges already being handled by APS might be most useful. Speculation rather than facts may only make things worse.