A 22-year-old Tivoli man is facing attempted murder charges after New York State Police say he beat his 96-year-old grandmother so badly that a family member found her the next morning lying in bed with significant bruising to her head and face and apparent blood loss. Max F. Klahr was arraigned on a slate of felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the attack, which troopers say unfolded at the woman's home in Rhinecliff, a hamlet within the town of Rhinebeck.
According to Newport Dispatch, Klahr went to his grandmother's residence on August 7 intending to spend the night there. State police say what began as a verbal argument between the two escalated into physical violence. Investigators with the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Rhinebeck determined, per their preliminary investigation, that Klahr became irate and physically assaulted his grandmother before leaving the residence and returning home. Local outlet The Daily Catch identified the victim as Frances Sandiford and confirmed the assault took place at her Rhinecliff home, an unincorporated Hudson River community within Rhinebeck.
A Morning Discovery Triggers the Investigation
State troopers were dispatched to the James Street residence around 10:21 a.m. the following day, August 8, for a reported EMS assist call. A family member had found the elderly woman in her bed, bruised and bleeding. She was transported to Northern Dutchess Hospital for treatment, according to the same report. That hospital, an 84-bed acute care facility in Rhinebeck operated by Northwell Health, recently completed a $1.7 million emergency department expansion and serves as the primary medical provider for northern Dutchess and southern Columbia counties, per Northwell Health. The victim's current condition has not been disclosed.
Klahr resides in the Village of Tivoli, located roughly 15 miles north of Rhinebeck along the Hudson River corridor, the article notes. Both communities are historic river villages in northern Dutchess County. Klahr was arraigned in Town of Hyde Park Court and remanded to the Dutchess County Justice and Transition Center in Poughkeepsie, a $192 million, 328-bed facility that opened in late 2023 to replace the county's former jail, according to Westfair Communications.
Charges Carry Up to 25 Years in Prison
Klahr was charged with attempted murder in the second degree under a depraved indifference theory, a Class B violent felony, and with assault in the first degree for causing serious physical injury through grave risk of death, also a Class B felony. Under New York Penal Law, per Tilem & Associates, PC, both charges carry potential sentences of 5 to 25 years in state prison upon conviction. Class B violent felonies are bail-eligible offenses, meaning judges have full statutory authority to remand a defendant without bail rather than set cash bail, per the Unified Court System's explanation of New York's bail statutes.
He also faces criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation by blocking the nose or mouth, a Class A misdemeanor, along with criminal mischief in the fourth degree, a Class A misdemeanor, and criminal mischief in the third degree, a Class E felony for damaging another person's property in an amount greater than $250. Under New York Penal Law § 145.05, that felony threshold applies when someone intentionally damages property worth more than $250, according to the New York State Police, and Class E felonies carry penalties of up to four years in state prison.
Case Heads Toward Grand Jury Review
Klahr is scheduled to reappear in Town of Hyde Park Court on Wednesday. Town courts in Dutchess County typically handle initial arraignments and bail determinations before felony cases move to Dutchess County Court for grand jury proceedings, per the Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council. Whether Klahr's case will proceed to a grand jury indictment remains to be seen.
The case echoes the severity with which Dutchess County prosecutors have pursued violent felony assaults in recent months. In April, the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office secured a 10-year sentence for a Main Street shooting against a 20-year-old defendant convicted of first-degree violent assault, reflecting a local pattern of multi-year prison terms sought in similarly serious cases.
