Larry John Lee, 50, entered a Pierce County Courtroom, with his head down, dressed in the green smock of someone on suicide watch in the Pierce County jail.
He answered questions about his name and birthdate but never looked back at the gallery.
His neighbors in Spanaway were asked if they ever suspected anything was wrong, happening inside. One neighbor said he saw evidence that things were not as they should be.
"I remember remarking to my wife that the inside of that house was just a hodgepodge of stuff,” said neighbor Todd Emoto. “The idea that they were caring for people in there was kind of scary."
Emoto lives across the street from Lee's house. He says the house was once a care facility licensed to Lee's ex-wife.
According to court documents, when she moved out, Lee lost the license but continued to care for the 58-year-old man who was autistic and mildly retarded.
"It gave me a bad feeling when the wife left," said Emoto, "Because my general impression was that she was the one providing most of the care."
Yet, investigators say Lee kept collecting more than $850-a-month for the man's care, including money from Medicaid until the program dropped him last year. Now investigators say he provided such poor care, the man got bed sores that got infected and caused him to die.
"Doing something like that," said Emoto, "He had to know he was doing something wrong."
Lee is being held at the Pierce County Jail on $1 million bail.
KIRO
