Restraint Death Ruled A Homicide By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express July 11, 2001 WOODWARD, IOWA--Larry Tielebein was killed. The official finding by the state's medical examiner is that the 45-year-old man, who had mental retardation and cerebral palsy, died from "compression or positional asphyxia". In other words, he suffocated to death. Tielebein suffocated to death on March 18 while staff members restrained him on a kitchen floor at Woodward Resource Center, a state-operated institution housing 270 people with mental retardation. And even though Tielebein's death is officially listed as a homicide, no charges have been filed. Investigators say that on the day of his death Tielebein began kicking, hitting and spitting at staff members. Several responded by putting Tielebein into a device that held his wrists to a waist belt. They then held him facedown on the floor for at least 15 minutes. According to the official reports, the staff refused to release Tielebein even though he began sobbing and repeatedly said he was sorry. It was only at the point where one staff member noticed that Tielebein's skin was turning dark blue that they turned him over and tried unsuccessfully to revive him. The Des Moines Register reported today that the institution has now been cited for more than two dozen violations related to restraints. Included in those citations is the finding that the staff ignored the program that had been devised for Tielebein, who had lived at the facility for 25 years. That program instructed the staff to discontinue the use of restraints when Tielebein was "calm" - which the facility defined as when he "says he's sorry, stops spitting, uses a quiet voice and (is) able to have regular topics of conversation." In spite of those reports Woodward superintendent Dr. Michael Davis told the paper that the violations were only related to documentation problems. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is continuing to investigate the case. Related stories are available from this Inclusion Daily Express webpage: http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/institutions/iowa.htm --- Distributed to this list by: Dave Reynolds, Editor Inclusion Daily Express / Inclusion Weekly Review [log in to unmask] http://www.InclusionDaily.com