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Woman drowned her 'perfect' 93-year-old grandmother because she couldn't afford a nursing home: Police
Screen shot of WDTN-TV video

Woman drowned her 'perfect' 93-year-old grandmother because she couldn't afford a nursing home: Police

An Ohio woman has allegedly confessed to murdering her elderly grandmother because she was tired of taking care of her and couldn't afford a nursing home.

Earlier this week, officers of the Eaton Police Division in Eaton, Ohio, about 40 minutes west of Dayton, said that Heidi Matheny, 35, walked into their office and admitted that she had just drowned her grandmother. When officers arrived at the residence Matheny described, they found 93-year-old Alice Matheny dead in a bathtub, just as her granddaughter said they would.

Heidi Matheny reportedly told police that on Monday, she took her grandmother to a doctor's appointment. While there, the doctor advised the two women that Alice would need to be placed in a nursing home. Heidi claimed that she could not afford a nursing home and that insurance would not cover the cost.

"According to the confession, she was just tired of taking care of a grandmother," added Police Chief Steven Hurd.

Heidi further explained to police that the next day, Tuesday, began "like any other day." She took her grandmother for ice cream. When they got home, Alice began doing dishes at the sink. At that point, Heidi claimed that she snuck up behind Alice and forced her head under the soapy water. She then said she held Alice's head there "until the bubbles stopped," which she estimated took about five or ten minutes.

However, Heidi stated that she was still not certain that her grandmother was dead. So she filled the bathtub with water and held her grandmother under water there for another 15 minutes, just to be sure. She said she then exited the apartment through a window and walked directly to the police station.



Heidi insisted that she did not kill her grandmother out of malice.

"It’s nothing that she did," she allegedly said during a police interview. "She’s not – she’s the perfect freaking grandma.”

She claimed she just wanted her grandmother to be "at rest."

But police called Alice Matheny's untimely death "horrific" and "unusual," especially in the quiet city of Eaton, which has had only two murders in the last 15 years or so, police said.

"It’s difficult not to take this to heart when you have a 35-year-old granddaughter who allegedly drowned her grandmother of 93 years of age in the bathtub," Hurd stated.

Heidi Matheny was arrested on Tuesday and charged with one count of murder. She is currently being held at the Preble County Jail without bond. She is also under suicide watch.

Alice Matheny's death is still under investigation, and the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office is currently conducting an autopsy.

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