PITTSBORO - A woman has sued an assisted-living center in Chatham County after surviving a brutal attack four years ago in which two of her friends were murdered by their housekeeper.

Barbara Clark is serving life in prison for killing Mary Corcoran and Peg Murta and beating Becky Fisher, now 80, with a walking cane in December 2007. The women had confronted her about stealing $1,000 from Corcoran and Murta's checking account.

Fisher suffered a cracked skull and brain injuries and returned to live at the Galloway Ridge retirement community south of Chapel Hill.

She and her husband, Al, are now suing the facility for negligence in giving Clark access to Corcoran and Murta despite a court order barring her from working with the elderly because of previous theft from a resident at another assisted-living home.

Clark worked for Corcoran and Murta. The Fishers' lawsuit argues that Galloway Ridge should have checked her criminal background in accordance with the facility's written policy.

"Defendants knew that a person with a completely unknown criminal history was walking the halls completely unsupervised," the lawsuit states.

Efforts to reach Galloway Ridge representatives for comment were unsuccessful.

In 2001 and again in 2007, Clark was convicted of forging checks from her clients, totaling nearly $20,000.

The lawsuit also complains that Clark initially escaped even though all three victims had emergency alarm pendants that summoned Galloway Ridge staff. No one arrived until five minutes after the alarms signaled the women's distress.

Each of the Fishers is claiming damages in excess of $10,000, standard language in such lawsuits. Becky Fisher has suffered permanent disfigurement and can't use parts of her body, the suit says.