Yolanda Steele, who had been hired to care for the couple, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and faces a possible 25 years in prison when she is sentenced next month.
Sidney Wenof, 82, a retired meat wholesaler, noticed unusual expenses on credit cards and money missing from accounts when he confronted Steele on Dec. 11, 2007.
"There was a confrontation where he became agitated," Steele calmly told Superior Court Judge Irvin J. Snyder yesterday. She said she had hit Wenof with his cane and caused him to fall.
Wenof, who had hired Steele as a full-time caretaker on the recommendation of a previous caretaker, was taken to Cooper University Hospital, where he died Dec. 19, 2007.
Assistant Camden County Prosecutor Mary Alison Albright said an autopsy had determined that Wenof died of blunt-force trauma. She said he also had pneumonia.
Steele, of Camden, initially was charged with murder and faced a possible life sentence. She agreed to plead guilty to the lesser manslaughter charge, and prosecutors agreed to drop theft charges.
Steele also agreed to pay $10,185 in restitution to Wenof's family, which relatives said they would donate to a counseling center for trauma and grief.
Wenof's three daughters sat with their families in the courtroom. The proceeding was briefly disrupted after the judge told Steele she would have to serve at least 85 percent of her sentence before she could be considered for parole.
"Yolanda, is you crazy?" a man said as he left the courtroom.
Albright said after the proceeding that Steele had not worked for the Wenofs long. She had been caught stealing twice; the first time, the Wenofs accepted her apology.
The beating took place after Sidney Wenof had confronted Steele a second time while his wife, Theora, was waiting for her daughter to take her to a doctor treating her for pancreatic cancer.
The couple told police Steele had beaten Wenof with a cane and a telephone. Steele initially had said that Wenof fell and hit his head, and that be became combative as she tried to help him.
Aware that Theora Wenof was gravely ill, attorneys had questioned her about the slaying during videotaped testimony prepared for a trial. She has since died.
Steele showed little emotion as she pleaded guilty.
Wenof's relatives declined comment. Albright said she could not comment on whether the family was satisfied with the plea, asserting that "no amount of years [in prison] can bring back what they lost."
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