-
Former leaders of Holyoke Soldiers' Home change pleas in neglect case
Two former leaders at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home faced a judge Tuesday, changing their not guilty pleas in the neglect cases against them to an admission of sufficient facts. Right now, neither man is set to face jail time — a result families say is a miscarriage of justice. Bennett Walsh, the former head of the home, made the change…
-
Ex-Holyoke Soldiers' Home leader set for change-of-plea hearing in COVID outbreak case
Former Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Superintendent Bennett Walsh is set for a change-of-plea hearing in a criminal case over the deaths of dozens of elderly veteran residents of the facility in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Walsh’s change-of-plea hearing in the case — he faces five counts of neglect — is scheduled in Hampshire Superior Court for Tuesday afternoon….
-
Court Revives Case Against Holyoke Soldiers' Home Leaders
A criminal trial can proceed against two former Holyoke Soldiers’ Home officials accused of negligence that led to the deaths of elderly veteran residents early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts’ highest court ruled Thursday. In a 5-2 decision that reversed a lower court’s dismissal of grand jury indictments, the Supreme Judicial Court said prosecutors should have a chance to try their...
-
Holyoke Soldiers' Home Employees Allege ‘Criminally Catastrophic Decisions' in COVID Outbreak
Workers have filed a class-action lawsuit against the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, where dozens of veterans died and many more were sickened at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
Top Mass. Court Hears Arguments Over Holyoke Soldiers' Home Leaders Charges
Massachusetts’ top court heard arguments Wednesday in the attorney general’s office appeal of a ruling dismissing indictments against the top two former leaders at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. More than 70 people died in the COVID-19 outbreak in the home for veterans at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, one of the deadliest such outbreaks at a U.S. long-term…
-
Top Mass. Court Hears Holyoke Soldiers Home COVID Appeal
Massachusetts’ highest court heard a case over whether two former leaders of the Holyoke Soldiers Home should face charges over the deadly COVID outbreak in 2020.
-
$58M Settlement in Deadly Holyoke Soldiers Home COVID Outbreak Is Approved
A federal judge has approved a nearly $58 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed in response to the deaths of dozens of veterans who contracted COVID-19 at a Massachusetts veterans home. “It was with heavy hearts that we got to the finish line on this case,” Michael Aleo, an attorney for the plaintiffs said Tuesday, the day after the…
-
Judge Dismisses Suit Brought by Holyoke Soldiers' Home Employees
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by employees of the Massachusetts veterans’ home at the center of a devastating COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 who said their constitutional rights were violated because they were forced to work in “inhumane conditions.”