Thomas Hauck Allegedly Starved His Father To Death

**TheMorningStar** · March 16th, 2012, 12:32 PM

A Philadelphia man has been charged in the starvation death of his 82-year-old father, whose body weighed 79 pounds. Paramedics responding to a call about 57-year-old Thomas Hauck's mother found the body of his father, Leonard Hauck, in the basement of the family's north Philadelphia home on Dec. 26.
Authorities say Thomas Hauck told the paramedics his father had died several days earlier and he didn't know what to do with the body. They say his mother was malnourished.

Prosecutors say Hauck was arrested Thursday and is charged with third-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, abuse of a corpse and other crimes in connection with his father's death.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1349694.html

**Shadow** · March 16th, 2012, 12:34 PM

unbelievable!!! He starved his father and was workin' on starvin' mom too? Or were they refusing to eat? Either way, it's sad.

~shadow

**TKaz** · March 16th, 2012, 01:10 PM

Let me start by saying I KNOW we don't have ALL the facts but......

Does anyone's mind ever go to benefit of the doubt in these parental starvings, laying in filth, etc stories? Or am I just jaded & warped?

Because my brain automatically leans to what if the parents were abusive or horrible & this was payback? Or, what if the adult child wasn't all there in the head - whether it was drugs or low IQ.

I don't know - it's common sense to pick up someone who's fallen, feed someone who cannot feed themselves & clean someone who cannot clean themselves.....but we all know here on the DD that common sense isn't as "common" as we think it is.

**TheMorningStar** · March 16th, 2012, 01:37 PM

Medics responded to a home on Kirkwood Road near Eden Street on Dec. 26 to treat Hauck's mother - who was malnourished - and found Leonard Hauck, 82, dead in the basement, District Attorney Office spokeswoman Tasha Jamerson said.
Thomas Hauck allegedly told investigators his father had died days earlier, and he was unsure what to do with the corpse.
After finding Leonard Hauck dead in the basement of his own home, officials launched an investigation into the circumstances of his death. Jamerson said the man weighed only 79 pounds when medics found him.
Thomas Hauck stole an undisclosed amount of money from his parents while acting as their caretaker, Jamerson said.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pe...142878445.html

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Man-Starved-Elderly-Father-to-Death-Cops-142838605.html

The coroner later ruled that Leonard died of malnutrition and dehydration. Police believe his son, Thomas, purposely withheld food and water and purposefully kept people out of the house and away from his elderly parents.

According to the D.A.'s office, at that time Thomas Houck informed them that his father had died several days before and he didn't know what to do with the body. The victim was severely malnourished, and at the time of his death Leonard Houck was 5'7" inches tall and weighed only 79 pounds.
Police also believe Houck was working his parents' finances so, when they died, he would get their money.

The next door neighbor, Eileen Deluca, said she and other suspected something was very wrong and now wish they had done more. Now, they want to see Thomas Houck go to jail.
"They should make sure he goes to jail. Not a crazy place, a real jail," DeLuca said. "He knew what he was doing."
Neighbors say Doris Houck was taken to a rehabilitation hospital and is doing much better now - even though she had [to] learn how to walk again. She was suffering from malnutrition and an infection.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...cal&id=8582676