Suzanne Lupica: Aged care home resident accused of murdering roommate sent to secure mental health facility

An aged care home resident accused of murdering her 88-year-old roommate after just four days together has been sent to a maximum-security mental health facility. Suzanne Margaret Lupica was charged after Lilian Catherine Donnelly was found dead at Bethanie Waters retirement village in Port Kennedy, in Perth’s south, on January 24. A triple zero call was made about 4.20am. The 75-year-old made her first appearance in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court via videolink from Melaleuca Women’s Prison on Wednesday, when her lawyer said she had been unable to secure “a more appropriate place”. She said her client suffered mental health issues but a Rockingham facility she had approached was not prepared to accommodate Ms Lupica. Magistrate Prue Griffin was told the accused had been assessed and met criteria for a hospital order under the Criminal Law (Mental Impairment) Act. She was accordingly sent to Frankland Centre on the Graylands Hospital site in Mount Claremont. The order only lasts for seven days, so Ms Lupica will return to the same court on Wednesday next week. The facts of the case were not read out and no plea was required. Ms Lupica first faced court on Australia Day from hospital, where she was receiving medication for heart and bowel conditions under police guard. When asked by Magistrate Dianne Scaddan whether she understood the charge, she replied “not really, because that that isn’t how it was”.