Donna Lou Rayhons’ dementia advanced so quickly in the months before her death she couldn't recall how to eat, thought her mashed potatoes were eggs and couldn't make decisions on her own, care center workers testified. Prosecutors say Henry Rayhons had sexual relations with his wife on May 23, 2014, in her room at the care center. Prosecutors say he was told earlier that month that his wife was no longer able to consent to sex.
Donna Lou Rayhons died in August. Henry Rayhons was arrested five days later.
A 14-member jury, eight women and six men, heard testimony from Barrick and other staff who worked at the care center, Garner police and Dr. John Brady of Garner Medical Clinic. Prosecutors spent much of the day asking the care center workers and doctor about Donna Lou Rayhon's condition and her husband's behavior in the weeks leading up to the alleged incident.
Charge nurse Shari Dakin testified she didn't see Donna Lou Rayhons make a single decision on her own without help in the months she lived in the care facility in Garner.
"You could see that Donna had Alzheimer's — she was not like you and I," Dakin said. "She was just in her pleasant little world, her own little world."
Barrick told the jury that Henry Rayhons was upset when told he could no longer take his wife out of the care center as he had in the past. She said he took Donna Rayhons to a doctor, after telling staff they were going for breakfast, in a bid to get overnight visits reinstated.
The doctor, John Brady, told jurors Henry Rayhons made an unsolicited comment while in the exam room with his wife. "Mr. Rayhons expressed his frustration with not being able to take Donna outside the facility as they had been doing previously," said Brady, of Garner Medical Clinic. "He made an unsolicited comment about his frustration with the family, but saying it's not like I'm going to take her out for sex or anything."
Jurors were shown surveillance footage of Henry Rayhons walking to and from his wife's room on May 23. On the way out, he drops an item in a laundry cart. Witnesses said it was a pair of Donna Rayhons' underwear. Police collected the undergarments as evidence. Sheets, a blanket and Donna Rayhons' comforter also were taken for testing.
Henry Rayhons' attorney, Joel Yunek, questioned how often laundry was done. He also pointed out Donna Lou Rayhons' roommate, who reported the alleged incident, never explicitly said she heard the Rayhons having sex.
He said it may have been what care center workers thought she implied, but not what she actually said. In his opening statement, Yunek said there's no physical evidence his client had sex with his wife on May 23, as prosecutors contend.
Yunek asked several witnesses whether anyone ever saw Donna Rayhons act afraid of her husband, or show any signs he was mistreating her. Apparently no one testified that she complained, and no one reported any signs he was mistreating his wife. Though often "pleasantly confused," Donna Rayhons spoke warmly of her husband, Concord Care Center employee Brittany Bouslaugh reportedly said Monday. "She said 'He takes me out and he buys me these beautiful things and beautiful jewelry'," Bouslaugh said. "And, she was just very, very happy."
Defense lawyer Joel Yunek contended in his opening statement that Henry Rayhons had lost a "power struggle" with two of his stepdaughters, which led to his wife being placed in a nursing home against his will last March. One of the step-daughters petitioned for, and received appointment as a guardian for her mom. After the felony charge was filed last August, Henry Rayhons' supporters suggested the prosecution was sparked by bad feelings between him and two of his stepdaughters.
According to the New York Times, "it is rare, possibly unprecedented, for such circumstances to prompt criminal charges. Mr. Rayhons, a nine-term Republican state legislator, decided not to seek another term after his arrest."
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