SEQUIM — The couple accused of abusing residents at their adult care facility were formally charged Wednesday with manslaughter and criminal mistreatment.
Carolyn Sue Hardwick, 58, and John Kenneth Packer, 33, are each charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter, one count of first-degree criminal mistreatment and two counts of second-degree criminal mistreatment in the cases of five former patients who either died at the couple’s care home or were injured while patients there.
Police and court records say two elderly patients at Garden Grove Adult Family Care Facility died in 2001 and 2002 without receiving proper medical attention.
The state Department of Social and Health Services shut down Garden Grovein late 2002.
Short court appearance
Hardwick and Packer sat next to each other and did not say anything during their short appearance in Clallam County Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Hardwick’s attorney, Karen Unger, led her client through a back door and into another courtroom, then into a courthouse restroom, before telling the Peninsula Daily News: “We have nothing to say to you.”
Packer left the courtroom without talking to reporters. His attorney, Ron Ness of Port Orchard, appeared at the hearing by phone and could not be reached for comment following the hearing.
Neither attorney offered a defense.
Hardwick and Packer are both scheduled to return to Superior Court at 9 a.m. Friday for arraignment.
Unger asked Judge Ken Williams to lift the no-contact order between the couple, which was imposed during their first court appearance Monday, saying they have lived together about 12 years and have known about the investigation for the past few years.
Hardwick has supplied Sequim police with boxes of records, Unger said.
“There’s absolutely no collusion that could possibly be going on now that hasn’t happened,” she said.
Own recognizance
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tim Davis asked for the order to stay in place. Williams said it will be addressed Friday.
Both Hardwick and Packer are free after being released on their own recognizance earlier this week.
Though police reported the couple to be married, Unger said in court that they are not.