Former Caregiver Gets Life Sentence for Torture

VAN NUYS--A former caregiver at a Calabasas assisted-living facility received a life sentence Wednesday for torturing elderly residents and an additional six-year term for abusing them.

During the trial it was revealed that 21-year-old Cesar Ulloa body slammed one of his victims, jumped off a dresser and landed knee-first on the stomach of another and partook in other abusive behavior in 2007 during his employment at Silverado Senior Living.

The Calabasas Road retirement home is an upscale care facility for people with Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

A Van Nuys jury found Ulloa guilty of all charges in April.

Rita Kittower, the wife of victim Elmore Kittower, addressed Ulloa in the courtroom just minutes before Judge Martin Herscovitz handed down the sentences.

Elmore died Nov. 6, 2007,  from natural causes.

After his funeral, an anonymous caller informed Rita of the abuse her husband had suffered.

Elmore's body was exhumed, and he was found to have broken bones including rib fractures, said Deputy District Attorney Robin Allen. An investigation eventually led to the arrest of Ulloa in October 2008.

Rita called Ulloa a "cruel, evil caregiver" and said he "preyed many times on helpless elderly people at Silverado and laughed."

"I wish you suffer forever," she told Ulloa.

Mary McDonough, wife of fellow Ulloa victim Richard McDonough, also spoke Wednesday and said she had a "load of guilt" on her shoulders for placing her husband at Silverado because she was not capable of caring for him anymore.

Ulloa will first serve six years in jail for the elder abuse conviction and then begin serving the life sentence for the torture one, Allen said.

After the minimum seven years of that life sentence is served, Ulloa would be eligible for parole, Allen added.

Daniel Teola, Ulloa's attorney, pushed for a lighter sentence because his client was a first-time offender.

Teola said his client would file for appeal by the end of the week.