Montgomery County man charged with murder and neglect in the death of his disabled brother

A Glenside man has been charged with murder after investigators say his disabled younger brother died in his care from a medical condition that could have been treated.

Harry Gramlich, 70, was charged late Wednesday with third-degree murder, neglect of care, and involuntary manslaughter, court records show. He was released on $100,000 unsecured bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.

Abington Township police were called to the Edge Hill Road home Gramlich shared with his sister and younger brother Timothy in October, after Gramlich reported that Timothy had died, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Gramlich’s arrest.

Inside the home, they found the body of Timothy Gramlich, 52, in a second-floor bedroom that was filthy and in disarray, the affidavit said. Timothy Gramlich, who had Down syndrome, was severely emaciated and weighed just 76 pounds. An autopsy by the county coroner determined he had died from urosepsis, a type of sepsis commonly caused by infections in the urinary tract that are left untreated.

In an interview with detectives, Harry Gramlich said his brother “hadn’t received any medical care in years,” and had fallen twice in the six months before his death. Harry Gramlich said his brother had seemed fine the night before he found him dead, when he delivered a meal and two bottles of water to his room.

Timothy Gramlich had been confined to his bedroom since the 1990s, when his mother died, and relied on his older brother as his primary caretaker, his sister, Elizabeth, told investigators.

For the care of his brother, Harry Gramlich received $3,500 from his brother’s Social Security fund every year, which he was supposed to spend on groceries and other expenses, the affidavit said. The fund also paid for a health insurance policy in Timothy Gramlich’s name.

In January, Montgomery County Coroner Ian Hood ruled that the unsanitary conditions Timothy Gramlich lived in further complicated the urosepsis, the affidavit said.

Combined, Hood said, they demonstrated “a willful and wanton disregard of an ongoing, unjustified risk” by Harry Gramlich that led directly to his brother’s death.