Hospice House of Horrors

Hospice House of Horrors

        Can we trust hospice services to care for our loved ones? It is hard enough to deal with a loved one having a terminal illness, but to also have to worry about our loved ones getting taken advantage of is unconceivable. That is the case with the Knell family of Harlingen. The head of Comfort House Hospice and a handy man at the hospice were charged with the murder of a patient. Monica Patterson comes from quite an influential family, which makes me wonder if that has anything to do with her bond reduction.  

Monica Patterson of Harlingen who was the head of Comfort House Hospice and a hired hand named Mario Garza an undocumented immigrant from Mexico were both charged in the murder of 97-year-old Martin Knell. Garza confessed to investigators that he gave her a hand in the murder of Knell. He said “she [Patterson] promised me a share of the proceeds from Knell’s estate” (Hernandez 37).

Monica Patterson is the daughter of former Precinct 2 Commissioner Hector “Tito” Palacios. Her uncle is former Pharr Mayor Leopoldo Polo Palacios. And her brother is County Court at Law #2 Judge Jaime Jay Palacios.  Monica Patterson’s family is influential. Monica Patterson’s family has the connections to reduce her bond. Therefor Monica Patterson got her bond reduced from 1 million to half a million dollars.

Patterson is a manipulative, heartless, money hungry, and greedy person. One should not be blinded by money. There is a saying I once heard “money is the root of all evils; poverty is the root of all goodness”. Just because Monica Patterson was the bad apple of the hospice does not mean that the whole hospice is bad. They have no control over what she [Patterson] and her accomplice did to Mr. Knell.