Elderly Wrestling Legend Verne Gagne Being Investigated For Nursing Home Death of Roommate Helmut Gutmann

Posted on February 19, 2009

Verne Gagne is a legendary pro wrestler but now at age 82 Gagne is being investigated for the death of his nursing home roommate, Helmut Gutmann. Read more on this crazy story below.

The former professional wrestler, Verne Gagne is 82 years old and and said to have Alzheimer’s Disease.

Last month Helmut Gutmann, 97, had a fall at the Friendship Village retirement community in Minnesota. Gutmann died about 20 days afterwards but now news is coming out that former wrestler Verne Gagne threw the elderly man to the ground.

The MinnPost.com has reported, “Gagne picked up the diminutive and frail man and hurled him violently to the floor, breaking his hip.”

Gutmann’s wife also lives at Friendship Village and said she was shocked, but stated:

“You can’t blame the person that did it,” she said. “[Gagne] doesn’t know what he’s doing. I feel so sorry for his family, because they are faced with a terrible problem of what to do.”

Verne Gagne’s family was very upset at the story being told:

“He has only one minute of memory retention,” the woman said. “And even though nobody is saying that this is the reason that this man died, you’re going to publish this? Unbelievable. You take a man who has given nothing but his time and his energy to this state, he loses his mind, and you’re going to do this?”

Police are currently investigating the incident and no word yet if Verne Gagne will be prosecuted.

Here’s an old video of Verne Gagne wrestling Killer Kowalski back in his heyday: