(Etzkorn currently owns Gabriel House through a company called Gabriel Care Inc., state records show.)
But two Superior Court judges ruled in 2013 and 2015 that Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office had obtained some financial records improperly and barred them from being used against Etzkorn at trial, according to court documents.
After the rulings, prosecutors ended the case against him in 2015, records show.
“As reasons therefore, the Commonwealth states it is in the interests of justice,” prosecutors wrote in court papers.
Etzkorn, according to his LinkedIn profile, is a native of Oklahoma and a graduate of Oklahoma State University.
In addition to owning Gabriel House, he owns the Plymouth Center for Behavioral Health and a company called Accurate Care, located in Rhode Island and Connecticut, according to the profile.
In a statement Monday afternoon, Etzkorn said he and his family were “devastated by the tragedy at Gabriel House” and would work with authorities during the investigation.
“Our thoughts are with every one of our residents, their families, our staff, and the brave first responders,” the statement said. “I am grateful for the support the city of Fall River has shown to everyone affected by this tragedy. We will continue to cooperate with the authorities and provide them with any information they may need throughout the investigative process regarding the cause and origin of this fire.”
He identified himself in the statement as the “Gabriel Care LLC Manager/Member.”
Etzkorn has been a steady donor to Republican candidates in Massachusetts, including a contribution he made while under indictment to gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker in 2014. Baker returned that money, according to published reports at the time.
In another court case, Etzkorn was found to have wrongly fired a female worker at Gabriel House in 2010 when she spoke up in support of a co-worker who was facing disciplinary action, records show.
According to Bristol Superior Court records, Etzkorn and managers of Gabriel House wanted health care professionals to sign noncompete agreements. The employee told co-workers that such agreements were illegal and was fired after she vowed to testify on behalf of a co-worker if necessary.
The original allegation dated to 2010 and wound its way through a Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination hearing officer to the full commission, which ruled in 2019 that Etzkorn had retaliated against the employee, records show.
Etzkorn challenged the decision in Bristol Superior Court, where Judge Merita A. Hopkins concluded in 2021 that Etzkorn wrongly fired the employee and agreed she had been retaliated against, records show.
Etzkorn was ordered to pay the woman $17,500 in lost income, $20,000 in damages, and $25,552 in attorney’s fees at 12 percent interest, records show.
It was not immediately known if Etzkorn paid the woman.
Etzkorn is a Medfield resident whose home is assessed at $1.3 million, town records show.
John R. Ellement can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @JREbosglobe. Marin Wolf can be reached at [email protected].