Photo: Getty
Robert Lombardi, 65, was charged in connection to the death of his roommate Frank Griswold, 80, after he fatally shoved him at their home on Nov. 27, A Massachusetts man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of his roommate following a disagreement over Thanksgiving dinner.
Robert Lombardi, 65, was charged in connection to the death of his roommate Frank Griswold, 80, after he “shoved” him in a dispute over “holiday meal preparations” at their home in Marshfield on Nov. 27, Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office stated in a press release.
The release added that Marshfield Police received a “911 call for a report of an unconscious male on the floor of the kitchen located at 853 Main Street.” Griswold was found “bleeding from the head” by authorities having suffered “a laceration to his forehead and a fractured neck,” and was transported to South Shore Hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Per the release, a preliminary investigation determined that the suspect “shoved the victim following a disagreement over holiday meal preparations” and he “subsequently fell to the floor and struck his head.”
According to local media outlet WCBV, citing court records, Lombardi told police he was cooking a meal and “got in an argument with Frank Griswold and that he did not want him in the kitchen touching the food.”
Lombardi said his roommate “often sneezes” and he did not want him to “sneeze or contaminate the food” being made for Thanksgiving. He said he left the kitchen and later returned to find Griswold near the food and grabbed him from behind and “surmised that Frank Griswold’s feet got tangled up, and he fell and hit his head on the floor,” prosecutor Joseph Presley said, per WCBV and CBS News.
“He did see the victim, Mr. Griswold, near that food doing dishes, said that he went over and grabbed Mr. Griswold from behind, grabbed his back and threw Mr. Griswold to the right and tossed him to the side,” Presley said, per WCVB.
Lombardi then called 911, according to the outlets and NBC 10 Boston.
Lombardi was subsequently arrested over the incident. On Friday, Nov. 29, the suspect pleaded not guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of assault and battery on a person over 60 in Plymouth District Court per the release.
Defense attorney Marshall Johnson said in court that the incident “was as close to an accident and nothing more as I have heard in a long time,” according to CBS News.
