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A New Jersey woman is accused of fatally poisoning her husband’s 88-year-old grandmother with antifreeze.
The Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office said Mary Groatman was pronounced dead Thursday at Underwood-Memorial Hospital in Woodbury, four days after the alleged poisoning.
Anna Castagna, 43, of Brooklawn, N.J., is charged with two counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault, prosecutors say. She was being held on $250,000 bail.
Castagna's husband, Andrew Castagna, has not been named in the investigation, investigators say.
Castagna helped care for Groatman, who neighbors say lived for years in an upstairs bedroom at Castagna's home. The elderly woman recently fell down some stairs and had been taken to a rehabilitation center in Deptford, south of Philadelphia, neighbors told NBC10 reporters.
View NBC10Philadelphia.com's story on grandmothers' death by antifreeze
According to the Gloucester County Times, Castagna had apparently visited Groatman at the rehab site on Sunday, the same day Groatman was discovered unconscious in her room.
"She was subsequently taken to the emergency room at Underwood-Memorial Hospital, where she underwent testing to determine the cause of her symptoms,” Gloucester County prosecutor Sean Dalton told the Gloucester County Times. “It was determined by the emergency room staff at Underwood-Memorial Hospital that she had ethylene glycol — the main ingredient in antifreeze — in her system.”
Dalton told NBC10 that Castagna had, in a time period leading up to the incident, "researched the effects of ingesting antifreeze on a human body."
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"If it wasn't for the exhaustive and important work done by the emergency room, this lady might've gotten away with murder," Dalton told NBC10.
Dalton described Groatman as otherwise in good health for her age.
Neighbor Christine Priole told NBC10 that Castagna always took good care of Groatman.
"Whatever's going on, I just really don't think Anna would do something like that. And I stand behind her. I just can't fathom it! It's the craziest thing I've ever heard," Priole said.
NBC10Philadelphia.com's Karen Araiza and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Yikes. Maybe the police need more time at the shooting range.
Somehow it looks like your comment posted to the wrong article.
Hmmm. Must be a bug in the MSNBC comments page. Oh well.
People of the United States of America,
Wow, another solid All American women, Poisioning an 88 year old grandmother with antifreesze no less.The evil,crazies are just all over the place.If we start executing the convicted,we may save lives and send a message to other crazy SOBs.
She just wanted the $$$$$$$$$$$$.
She dumb too,, glad they can catch A,,Holes as she is,,I guess, Trial not over ,, GZ and TM comes to mind,,Humm?
He was right,,GZ ,,butwell,,let the punk do his thing,,right?? Can we get A trial before they hang him,,?
Call the cops,,be here in a min. (NOT)and they will be mad at you! Hueytown,Ala. B,ham,, look at it ,,hello?? Knock,,knock,,I got to gooooo,,,,OUCH!!!!!!!!!
It's always the one's that nobody suspects. It's always the one's people can't imagine doing something like that. The world is going bat s%^&# crazy. People are capable of ANYTHING and I am sadly not surprised by what I read much anymore.
Where's the rest of the story? Did the old bat have some money? Were they going to cash her SS checks?
Or did they just get tired of taking care of her?
"old bat?" You better watch it, same thing could happen to you
Maybe, the woman drank it herslf,why would she kill her now if she had been her care-giver for years? I hope that they don't make a mistake on this..
Maybe it was another mercy killing. Who knows. I definitely feel sorry for the husband. If his wife killed his grandma, his life is going to be messed up for awhile.
I don't understand why the headlines always have to be sensationalized.
Would this crime have been any less terrible if it were a young man or a child that was poisoned?
More ppl would feel sorry if it was a child.
Although I frequently find sensationalism in NBC's headlines, I'm not sure if there is any in here. To me, the headline seems straightforward.
Well at least the old lady won't overheat. I hope they used Prestone. It last a long time.
Made me wonder if she was German if you'd have to use Pink coolant instead...
This lady looks crazy. Of course he did it. Neighbor "Christine Priole" needs to stop living in her fairy tale world. It ok to say negative things to the media & not feel guilty about it.
the old lady had no quality of life and the other woman did her a favor
Joe - You should go outside and wait for the bus! The HELLISD bus.
We have to ban anti-freeze now.
I was thinking,,WOOPS,,that they put bitters in it so you could not do that to a DOG ,CAT,, or a dang HUMAN,,
It tase BAD,, People want more money,,I don't care how good there life is,,MORE!!!!!!!!!! Like the G ,towns,gove. law ,lawyers,more??> folk...
Cold blooded murder...but not frozen
Wow. Before I had finished reading the rest of the article, I thought for a minute, "OK, let's not be jumping to conclusions", but if she was STUPID enough to actually research how to poison someone with anti-freeze on the PC before actually doing the evil deed, then they probably got the RIGHT PERSON for this crime. At first I thought, "Well it could've been someone in the nursing home", but probably not, if they found the anti-freeze research on the lady's computer.
Anti-freeze poison isn't pain-free, either. It's a slow, agonizing, painful death. It's not quick.
Why did she want the old lady to suffer?