Brooklawn Grandmother Dies from Antifreeze Poisoning

A Brooklawn woman allegedly researched the toxic effects of antifreeze before fatally poisoning her grandmother-in-law at a Deptford rehabilitation center this weekend.

Anne Castagna, 43, now faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of Mary Groatman, 88, who was recovering from a fall at the Deptford Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare.

Castagna initially had been held on two counts of attempted murder and a single count of aggravated assault. She remains in jail on default of $250,000 bail, an amount that could increase with the upgraded charge.

Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton said that Groatman was taken off life support Thursday at Underwood-Memorial Hospital in Woodbury, where doctors discovered ethylene glycol—the primary ingredient in antifreeze—in her system.

As little as 4 ounces of the sweet-tasting liquid can terminally damage internal organs like the brain, liver, kidneys, and lungs, according to statistics from the National Institutes of Health.

Signs quickly pointed to Castagna as the suspect.

“If it wasn’t for the exhaustive and important work by the emergency room, this lady might’ve gotten away with murder,” Dalton said.

He wouldn’t speculate on any motive for the poisoning and couldn’t elaborate about the circumstances of the incident, citing the ongoing investigation.

“At this point, we’re not at liberty to go into that level of detail,” Dalton said.

Although Groatman had sustained head injuries and bruising from the fall that had put her in the rehab center, Dalton said prosecutors are focused on the poisoning that led to her death.

“She was in good health for someone 88 years of age,” he said.

Groatman had been in Castagna’s care at the family home in Brooklawn for several years, which Castagna and her husband had purchased from Groatman in 2002, according to real estate records.

Dalton called the poisoning “heart-wrenching” and “a sick act" that is rare in the county.

“It’s just something that most of us would never even fathom,” Dalton said.

A call to the Deptford Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare late Thursday afternoon wasn’t returned.