76-year-old Warren nursing home resident charged with first-degree murder

WARREN — Police have charged a 76-year-old man with the murder of his 81-year-old roommate at the Crestwood Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Warren.

Police were called to the nursing home just after 10 p.m. on Thursday for the "sudden death of a male patient."

On Friday, Warren police charged Robert Hill, 76, with first degree murder in the death of John Sullivan, 81, the night before at the nursing home.

According to a police affidavit: Hill tried to prevent a nurse from entering the room to check on the men "by putting his hands up to stop the door from opening and stat[ing] 'nope you can't come in.'"

When she forced the door open, she told police: it appeared the victim had suffocated from having pillow stuffing pushed into his mouth.

"He tried to kill me first, he has been trying to kill me for five,ten years," Hill reportedly stated several times, according to the affidavit filed with the court.

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Magistrate J. Patrick O'Neill ordered that he be held without bail and that he undergo a "competency evaluation," according to the court record. The case was referred to a grand jury.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Warren RI nursing home resident charged with killing roommate, 81