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Arrest made in overdose at facility

A former resident of Rosalie Manor is accused of drugging, sexually assaulting and killing another resident.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published July 19, 2006

DUNEDIN - A six-month investigation into abuse and neglect at Rosalie Manor assisted living facility has led to something even more disturbing: a charge that one resident killed another with a fatal dose of drugs.

Terance Dungan, 39, a former resident of the facility, told deputies early Tuesday that he had given a 20-year-old woman 19 pills of his prescribed hydrocodone and assaulted her, officials said. The woman, whose name was withheld by the Sheriff's Office, died hours later of an overdose March 10, 2005.

Dungan's arrest comes only days after the former owner of Rosalie Manor, Erik M. Anderson, 60, of St. Petersburg, was booked into jail on numerous charges, including child abuse, neglect of the elderly and disabled, and dispensing medication without a license.

Anderson, once in custody, told authorities that Dungan had provided the lethal dosage to the other resident, prompting deputies to look into the case again, sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen said. Detectives had investigated the death in 2005, but despite learning that someone had given the woman the pills, they closed the case without an arrest.

"We did have some knowledge that another person had provided hydrocodone to the victim, but additional information has come to light and the deputies took action," said McMullen, who would not elaborate on what that new information was.

McMullen would not confirm the name of the dead woman. However, an autopsy report obtained by the St. Petersburg Times identifies the woman as Stephanie Haas. A medical examiner determined that she died of hydrocodone toxicity and ruled the death an accident.

A message left with Haas' family was not returned Tuesday.

In addition to first-degree murder, Dungan faces charges of sexual battery and trafficking in hydrocodone. He was being held without bail in the Pinellas County Jail.

It could not be learned Tuesday what led to Dungan's stay at Rosalie Manor. A woman who answered the phone at his last known address, on Oleander Way in South Pasadena, declined to answer questions.

It was unknown what effect, if any, Dungan's case would have on Anderson as the owner of the facility, McMullen said.

"Deputies are continuing to review incidents that occurred" at Rosalie Manor, he said.

The Sheriff's Office's investigation into Rosalie Manor began in December. A deputy responded to an unrelated call about a suicidal person and discovered a resident who was deprived of his prescribed medication, causing him to become mentally unstable, officials said.

It was that call that became the catalyst for a full-blown investigation of the center, 534 Howell St., which cared for about 30 elderly and disabled residents.

Later reviews of the facility found medications that were missing or mishandled, including some that were administered by a 17-year-old employee who was not authorized to have access to them or give them out, deputies said. Sheriff's officials said that employee was the one responsible for withholding medication from the suicidal person.

Deputies proceeded to review more than 400 of their own reports on Rosalie Manor over a 10-year period and discovered a pattern of criminal behavior, McMullen said.

"It was labor-intensive, and it was a thorough review," he said.

Records show that Anderson sold the assisted living facility property to Douglas Coffey of Hudson for $1.3-million. Sheriff's officials said the ownership change of the assisted living facility occurred in the last two weeks.

[Last modified July 18, 2006, 22:51:04]