Man Accused of Faking Death Was Subject of Suit

A sex offender accused of killing a man to fake his own death was the subject of a 2007 lawsuit regarding allegations he had sexually assaulted a 77-year-old Alzheimer's patient.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Michael Anthony Gilbert was accused of entering a room at a Colleyville assisted-living facility and putting his hand under the woman's gown.

The case was dropped. The woman's family sued, saying companies that hired Gilbert as a sitter for another resident at the facility did not conduct a thorough background check.

The lawsuit was settled confidentially in 2009.

Authorities say Gilbert, attempting to avoid arrest this week in another sexual assault, fatally shot a homeless man, put the body in his car's trunk and set the car ablaze, hoping police would think that the body was Gilbert's. The man hasn't been identified.

Officers said Gilbert tried to fake his death before, in 2002 in Biloxi, Miss.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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