Decorah duo arrested for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a nuring home patient

by Mike Bunge

DECORAH, Iowa – Two people have been arrested for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a resident of a northeast Iowa nursing home.

Christina Sophia Gray, 60 of Decorah, and Duane Alton Herman, 55 of Decorah, are charged with financial exploitation of an older individual, ongoing criminal conduct, and first-degree theft.

Law enforcement says Gray and Herman were the caretakers of an 85-year-old woman, who they checked into the Aase Haugen nursing home in May 2023.  Aase Haugen says it only received one admission payment of $4,842 for the elderly victim and then got no payment for almost a year, totaling $99,436 in unpaid expenses.

Investigators say in addition to not paying for the victim’s stay at the nursing home, Gray used her access to the victim’s bank account to spend $79,097.28 for Gray’s personal benefit.  Court documents state the money went to pay utility bills, online shopping accounts, vehicle purchases, groceries, and other items.

Law enforcement says Herman received 43 checks from the victim’s account, totaling $29,660.  Herman also allegedly benefited from $27,518.25 in cash withdrawals and charges to the victim’s account of $2408.06 for Mediacom payments, and $2,150 in appliances purchases.

Gray and Herman are accused of emptying the victim’s account of everything except the Social Security payments which continued to come in.

Both Gray and Herman were arrested on Tuesday and held on $50,000 bail. 

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Decorah duo arrested for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a nuring home patient