MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- An elderly Murfreesboro woman has died a week after police said she was beaten with a baseball bat by her adult son, and a man says he was victimized by the woman's son years ago.

Related: Video: Man Threatened For Year By Son Who Beat Mom | Video

Loraine Van Blarcom, 81, suffered serious injuries on Oct. 14 after police said her son, Roger Van Blarcom, 45, struck her multiple times. She died at Middle Tennessee Medical Center.

The woman's son was taken into custody and charged with attempted first-degree murder. Since the woman's death, charges against Roger Van Blarcom have been upgraded to murder.

According to police, the victim was asleep on the sofa when her son woke her, asking, "Do you want to go to heaven?"

He then allegedly dragged his mother downstairs and beat her with a baseball bat, saying she was the devil and that he was punishing her for what she did to him as a child.

When Murfreesboro police found the injured elderly woman, they said, she was lying in a pool of blood, grimacing in pain with her son standing over her.

Jeff Hinds said he was victimized by Roger Van Blarcom over what he calls "the most terrifying year of (his) life." He said Roger Van Blarcom threatened his life, first by leaving a People magazine with sadistic, handwritten notes inside.

"It was graphically detail how the death would go," said Hinds.

Hinds said he tried to forget the shattered apartment windows and having to live in fear of his former neighbor. Then, last week, when he heard about a son beating his mother with a baseball bat he said he wondered what kind of person could do such a thing.

"When I heard that name, I turned to the TV and saw that face," said Hinds. "There's that monster's face again, and it just all came back."

Hinds said he didn't know Roger Van Blarcom at first, but after reporting the bizarre behavior to police many years ago, he was able to put a name with the face. He said he called the man's mother.

"She was not defensive," said Hinds. "She didn't make excuses for herself or her son. She was apologetic."

Three days before Loraine Van Blarcom was beaten, a neighbor's cat was found dead. It was buried, and a grave marker was placed at the site.

Later that day, according to a police report, a neighbor saw Roger Van Blarcom standing next to the grave, and the marker had been smashed.

"Eighteen years ago, he had a thing about cats," said Hinds. "He thought I was using them to spy on him."

Roger Van Blarcom is jailed with bond set at $750,000. He is scheduled to appear in court next month.