Former Wisconsin hospice nurse accused of amputating dying man's foot without his permission

A former Wisconsin hospice nurse is facing felony charges after allegedly cutting off a dying man's foot without his consent or permission from doctors. Mary Brown, 38, faces one count of physical abuse of an elderly person and one count of mayhem.

According to a criminal complaint, a Pierce County medical examiner contacted authorities in June after conducting an autopsy of a deceased 62-year-old man whose foot was not attached to his body but was instead "lying beside him."

The man had been placed in a nursing home in March 2022 after suffering frostbite on both of his feet, which became necrotic, after he fell in his own residence and the heat went out, the complaint said. Brown, a nurse who was working at the facility, allegedly cut the man's foot off on May 27 because, she told investigators, she wanted to ease his suffering and give him some "dignity," the complaint said.