A 75-year-old Minnesota man, Scott Douglas Loven, will spend years in prison for refusing to help his dying wife, who had fallen in the bathtub. For days, he didn’t contact the authorities, and when asked, he said he didn’t help her because she was “obese.”
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As reported by Law & Crime, Loven was sentenced to 41 months in prison on Thursday, August 28. He had pleaded guilty in May to one count of criminal neglect by a person who knows or has reason to know deprivation will result in great bodily harm.
Loven had been previously charged with second-degree manslaughter by a person with culpable negligence for creating an unreasonable risk. The plea agreement, however, downgraded the charge.
According to a complaint obtained by KROC, authorities were made aware of the situation on May 8, 2023. The Rochester Police Department responded to a northwest Rochester residence after receiving a report of a woman who had died in the bathtub.
Upon arrival, police met with the caller, the woman’s pastor. He told police that, four days before his call, he had arrived at the house and Loven had told him his wife, Iris Jean Anderson, had died. Believing everything had been taken care of, the pastor then called Anderson’s daughter days later. The daughter was not aware of Anderson’s passing.
‘She Was Obese’
Shocked by the realization, the daughter asked the pastor to perform a welfare check. Upon returning to the residence, Loven told the pastor that Anderson had died and that she was in the bathroom, the complaint said. Additionally, Loven said he had been drinking for days and didn’t recall when his wife had died exactly.
Talking to the police, Scott Douglas Loven said that he was Anderson’s caretaker. At the time, she was struggling with several health issues. She also reportedly weighed 130 pounds and mobilized with a walker.
Before Anderson died, she had asked Loven, also a nurse, to help her to the bathroom. He did, but as he left, she fell into the bathtub, suffering an abrasion to her arm.
Shockingly, Loven told police, on May 9, 2023, that he “could not help her” because she was “obese.” Furthermore, he didn’t want to drive her to a hospital or sit in a waiting room. Loven added that he believed Anderson was dying, “so he kept her in the bathtub,” refusing to call 911.
An autopsy determined that Anderson died of “gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to prolonged immobility due to multiple blunt force injuries.” She had suffered from multiple injuries, including a right shoulder fracture, right arm contusion, right eye contusion, and a scalp laceration. Her manner of death was ruled a homicide.