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- Michael Jensen, 60, was charged Tuesday with aggravated abuse of his mother in Holladay.
- Brenda Paull, 79, died after showing signs of starvation and dehydration, but her manner of death was inconclusive.
- Police said they discovered she had been living in unsanitary conditions and the son had threatened to kill her in 2023.
HOLLADAY — A man is facing a criminal charge accusing him of allowing his mother to live in unsanitary conditions and not doing anything to help with her health.
Michael Jensen, 60, of Holladay, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult, a second-degree felony.
At the time that Jensen's mother, 79-year-old Brenda Paull, died on Oct. 23, 2024, the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner found she "suffered from several conditions unrelated to the natural aging process, including starvation/dehydration, gastrointestinal hemorrhage and an active maggot infestation, according to charging documents.
Despite being his mother's sole provider, police say Jensen "was unable to describe any medical treatment Ms. Paull had received in at least several months."
When emergency crews were called to their home in October on a report that the mother was having a full cardiac arrest, she was immediately pronounced dead, the charges state.
The mother was found lying on a bed "wearing a diaper which was completely saturated with urine and feces," according to the charges. Detectives attending the autopsy "observed large sores on Ms. Paull's body and scabs and sores on her feet and lower legs. Ms. Paull's back was almost entirely covered in bed sores," the charges allege.
"Although Ms. Paull's natural disease was sufficiently severe to have caused her death, (the autopsy) was unable to rule out the possibility that poor nutrition with starvation-type ketoacidosis caused her death," according to the charging documents, which also note that "the cause and manner of Ms. Paull's death were undetermined."
Investigators also noted that when they were first called to Jensen's home, he "made the unsolicited statement, 'I'm a millionaire now.' Jensen said he was 'broke' and his mother was worth a considerable amount of money," the charges state.
Police also reviewed records from Adult Protective Services that showed in 2023 the mother reported "Jensen yelled at her a lot and she was looking for a different place to live."
Later that year, in August 2023, Jensen was arrested and charged with abuse of a vulnerable adult and lewdness. When police were called to a domestic disturbance at the residence, Paull told officers "she was scared to death of Jensen and that he would become angry for unknown reasons," according to charging documents.
"Brenda stated that, due to her age, she was at the point that she could no longer take care of herself and recently moved in with Jensen for help; however, she has been terrified of him the entire time," the charges say. "The victim expressed fear of the defendant and stated that she believes he will kill her. Moreover, on the lethality assessment, the victim stated that he has threatened to kill her and that she believes he will."
Another relative told police that Jensen "is violent when drinking, to the point of losing an eye during a bar fight while intoxicated, and on a separate occasion breaking (his) mother's wrist while intoxicated in a separate state," according to charging documents.
That case was later dismissed, however, due to witness issues during the preliminary hearing, and Paull continued to live with Jensen.
