Bend woman accused of smothering grandmother, 92

A Bend woman arrested for murder allegedly used a pillow and her body to smother her elderly grandmother to death, according to new court records.

Angela Judd, 45, who made a brief court appearance Tuesday, was arrested Feb. 5 in the Dec. 31 death of 92-year-old Nada Bodholdt. At court hearings, prosecutors have shed little light on the death, but a recently filed “memorandum of law in support of admissibility of defendant’s admissions” offers new details in the case.

According to the 19-page report, Judd confessed to killing her grandmother during a Jan. 29 counseling session she participated in as part of the Employee Assistance Program at Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls. The memo said Judd is employed at the facility as a nurse.

Judd allegedly told the counselor, Wendy Jones, that about a month had passed since she drank two glasses of wine, went alone to her grandmother’s retirement home in northeast Bend and “stroked (Bodholdt’s) face and told her how much she loved her,” before she “put a pillow over (her) face, laid on top of (Bodholdt) and smothered her until she died.” The report also said Bodholdt “physically struggled” during the encounter.

Judd told Jones she struggled with the decision to kill Bodholdt, but that she “knew (her grandmother) was in her final days and was concerned (Bodholdt) would develop the death rattle and suffer for days until she drowned.”

The memo said Jones later called police to report Judd’s confession; she had explained to Judd prior to the start of the session that she was a mandatory reporter — meaning she was required to make a report to law enforcement if Judd revealed she was in danger of harming herself, or disclosed information about child or elder abuse.

Bend police began an investigation on Feb. 3, more than a month after Bodholdt died of what was originally believed to be natural causes. The documents say a bloody pillowcase and several of Bodholdt’s prescription drugs were found hidden in a closet at Judd’s home during a police raid.

Bodholdt was a resident at Stone Lodge Retirement Community, and according to Judd’s statements, was in hospice care with congestive heart failure. But the memo says police interviews with Bodholdt’s acquaintances and staff members of Stone Lodge show many who knew her were surprised by her sudden death. One account said Bodholdt had recently played the violin for other residents of the community.

In another session with Jones a week after her first visit, Judd allegedly said she was “she was exhausted of taking care (of her grandmother)” and taking care of Bodholdt “was such a burden” because Bodholdt had “no resources and (Judd) had to pay a private caregiver $25 an hour which was a burden.”

The memo also said Judd cleaned out Bodholdt’s cupboards prior to her death and told an in-home care worker that her services would no longer be needed because her grandmother “would not be alive on Jan. 1, 2016.”

Judd allegedly later told Jones she felt “angry, guilty and ashamed of what she did.”

District Attorney John Hummel told KTVZ Tuesday that he filed the memorandum to convince the court that Judd’s conversations with Jones should be allowed as evidence.

“We argue the state should be allowed to introduce the statements at the preliminary hearing and at the trial,” Hummel said in an email. “We anticipate the defense will argue the state cannot use the statements. Therefore, since we anticipate this dispute we’re raising the issue now so the defense can respond and the judge can issue a ruling.”

The memorandum argues that the psychotherapist-patient privilege of confidentiality does not apply in the case.

Judd is expected to appear in court for a special hearing on the matter March 21.

A woman at Judd’s home told KTVZ that the family does not wish to comment on the case.