{"id":399665,"date":"2026-01-31T00:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/399665\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T00:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T00:08:11","slug":"dentist-59-killed-much-younger-girlfriend-before-turning-gun-on-himself-after-he-was-wrongly-released-from-psychiatric-hospital-lawsuit-alleges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/399665\/","title":{"rendered":"Dentist, 59, killed much-younger girlfriend before turning gun on himself after he was wrongly released from psychiatric hospital, lawsuit alleges"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 59\u2013year\u2013old dentist who began dating his girlfriend when she was a teenager killed her before turning the gun on himself after being wrongly released from a psychiatric hospital, according to a lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Caroline Ashworth was 18 when she met Michael Mollow of Branford, Connecticut<\/a>, in late 2019 or early 2020.<\/p>\n

Mollow allegedly abused the teen during their three\u2013year relationship, according to a civil lawsuit cited by the Hartford Courant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After repeated domestic violence<\/a> calls to Mollow’s home, Ashworth moved out on August 22, 2022.<\/p>\n

Mollow checked himself into a psychiatric hospital the following day, where he allegedly told staff he was ‘totally obsessed’ with his ex\u2013girlfriend and had ‘homicidal ideations’ about her.<\/p>\n

He was admitted for 15 days but ‘prematurely’ discharged after just two, per the lawsuit filed on behalf of Ashworth’s mother Angela.<\/p>\n

After his release, he allegedly stalked Ashworth and shot her three times before taking his own life.<\/p>\n

Ashworth’s attorney appeared before the Connecticut Supreme Court on Thursday, arguing that SVMC Holdings Inc. \u2013 which owns the hospital that released Mollow \u2013 should be held liable for negligence.<\/p>\n

\"Michael <\/p>\n

Michael Mollow, 59, allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ashworth, 21, whom he began dating when she was just 18<\/p>\n

\"Ashworth <\/p>\n

Ashworth met Mollow in late 2019 or early 2020 and started a three-year relationship with him, which was allegedly abusive<\/p>\n

Ashworth first called police on August 9, 2022, to report that Mollow had previously threatened to shoot her. She also alleged that he had assaulted her.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleged that Mollow controlled the much younger woman by claiming ownership of her car and managing her cell phone plan.<\/p>\n

Five days later, Mollow contacted law enforcement and allegedly acknowledged that he had tracked Ashworth using a GPS device.<\/p>\n

He also admitted to taking her cell during a confrontation, the suit said.<\/p>\n

He went on to follow up with police the next day and told them that Ashworth had stolen a vehicle.<\/p>\n

Mollow allegedly convinced her to co\u2013sign on the car after she traded in her old vehicle, the complaint said.<\/p>\n

Ashworth eventually left Mollow’s home following multiple domestic violence calls, which allegedly sent the dentist into a dark spiral.<\/p>\n

\"Mollow <\/p>\n

Mollow allegedly stalked Ashworth and then killed her with three gunshots in a condominium complex in Wethersfield<\/p>\n

She traveled to Alabama to visit her family, while Mollow stayed behind in Connecticut.<\/p>\n

He originally sought care at Midstate Medical Center, where he admitted that he owned multiple guns and had a pistol permit.<\/p>\n

Mollow added that he was mixing alcohol with Xanax he got ‘off the street,’ per the suit.<\/p>\n

The hospital then admitted Mollow under a 15\u2013day physician’s emergency certificate, which allows patients to be confined without a court order.<\/p>\n

Police were told about his comments, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

However, an officer allegedly never contacted Ashworth, citing her voicemail not being set up.<\/p>\n

The case was marked ‘inactive’ less than 90 minutes after the hospital’s call, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

One day later, Mollow was transferred to St. Vincent’s psychiatric facility, which also had access to his records.<\/p>\n

Despite that, he was released after just two days, even though Mollow was allegedly willing to remain hospitalized.<\/p>\n

Mollow was only told to follow up with his primary care doctor and with a social worker five days after being released.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The legal case filed by Ashworth’s mother, Angela, is still pending, with jury selection expected to begin in December<\/p>\n

One day later, Mollow allegedly followed Ashworth to a condominium complex in Wethersfield.<\/p>\n

He allegedly confronted her in a parking lot and shot her three times. She was 21 at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mollow then used the gun to kill himself.<\/p>\n

Attorney Eric Del Pozo, who is representing the hospital, argued that there was no ‘duty to warn’ Ashworth about Mollow’s release.<\/p>\n

Del Pozo added that the suit did not include Mollow making any homicidal statements once he was at St. Vincent’s Medical Center.<\/p>\n

He said Ashworth ‘knew everything’ that the suit alleged the hospital ‘should have told her.’<\/p>\n

The legal case remains pending. Jury selection is expected to begin in December, according to court records.<\/p>\n

The Daily Mail has reached out to Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, who are representing Ashworth’s estate, and Eric Del Pozo, who is representing the hospital, for comment.<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24\/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 59\u2013year\u2013old dentist who began dating his girlfriend when she was a teenager killed her before turning the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[97,102,2960,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-399665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-dailymail","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}