Inside New Jersey's Most Corrupt Asylum: The Unheard Horrors of Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital

Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital was New Jersey's dumping ground for the mentally ill. In 1987, a State Senator used a dead felon's identity to get hired there. What he found shut the place down for good. A woman froze to death because staff didn't notice she was missing for 48 hours. Another choked on a peanut butter sandwich despite her file clearly stating she could only have liquids. A man died in restraints that nobody loosened for 80 hours. The 1994 Senate investigation called it "a tableau of waste, fraud, thievery and corruption." When it finally closed in 1998, 924 patients lay buried in the hospital cemetery—under numbers, not names. Today, the buildings are gone. Monmouth County is turning the grounds into hiking trails. The numbered graves remain. Subscribe for more investigations into America's forgotten institutions. Comment: Which moment from this story disturbed you most? TOPICS COVERED: Senator Richard Codey undercover investigation 1979 food poisoning outbreak (5 deaths) Patient deaths from neglect and abuse 1994 Senate Task Force corruption findings Prison work camp on hospital grounds 924 numbered graves in patient cemetery Deinstitutionalization and hospital closure Marlboro Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey SOURCES: New Jersey Monthly (Codey exposé), NJ State Commission of Investigation 1994 Report, Public Advocate's Office investigations, Asbury Park Press archives, NJ Division of Mental Health Services records #MarlboroPsychiatricHospital #MentalAsylum #NewJersey #AbandonedAsylum #RichardCodey #WardFiles #Documentary #MentalHealth #ForgottenHistory #DarkHistory