Woman convicted of beating to death 77-year-old man she found in bathtub with autistic relative

A jury decided the fate of a Wisconsin woman who beat to death a family friend that she had found in a bathtub with a nonverbal, autistic relative.

Richard Platt, 77, was found dead in the basement of his home on Glen Park Court in New Berlin in Feb. 2024 after getting beaten with a ceramic angel sculpture.

Brown admitted striking him on the head and body. She also bit his face and tried to gouge his eyes out.

Later that same day, 44-year-old Martha Brown was detained as a person of interest by the nearby Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office after they received a call about a partially dressed woman roaming through a neighborhood. Brown was found hiding in a garage in Cedarburg and was draped with a shower curtain.

Brown revealed her involvement in the New Berlin incident when she was being treated at a hospital. That led to police performing a wellness check on the man and finding his body.

The woman said that she had known Platt for 14 years and had lived with him for about six years. Platt had helped her take care of the 22-year-old nonverbal, autistic relative, but Brown said she confronted him after suspecting he had been molesting the relative.

Brown said she chased him into his basement, where they had an altercation.

She said that he had touched her inappropriately and attacked her, and Brown admitted striking him on the head and body. She also bit his face and tried to gouge his eyes out but said she left without knowing his condition.

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Police said they found a "tremendous amount of blood spatter" at the scene and "significant head trauma" on the victim.

Brown tried to argue that she acted in self-defense, but a jury disagreed and found her guilty of first-degree intentional homicide on Tuesday after deliberating for only two hours.

She will be sentenced on Nov. 20 and may face life in prison.

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