Category: Age: Adult

Age 30-59

Susann Sills

Photo of a woman with light skin and long brown hair, leaning her head on her hand; she is wearing a white sweatshirt and there is an engagement and wedding ring on her hand.Name: Susann Stephanie Arsuaga Sills.
Died: November 13, 2016.
Age at death: 58.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: San Clemente, California, USA.
Disability: Migraines.

Details:
Susann’s husband beat her up, then strangled her to death. At trial, the defense claimed that she fell down the stairs because of her migraines.

Case Status:
Eric Scott Sills (Husband), convicted of second-degree murder.

Sources:
Fertility Doctor Convicted of Killing Wife in San Clemente
Jurors to Deliberate Fate of Doctor Accused of Killing Wife in San Clemente

Rebecka Pearce

Photo of a young blond woman, smiling for the camera. Her teeth are straight; her eyes lined with dark liner. She wears pearl earrings.Name: Rebecka Jeanann Pearce.
Died: November 11, 2016.
Age at death: 30.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, anxiety.

Details:
Rebecka and her husband were in the process of getting a divorce, and Rebecka was staying at her parents’ house. Her husband, a sheriff’s deputy, had filed a protective order against her, claiming that her bipolar disorder made her dangerous to her children.

Rebecka’s ex-husband broke into her parents’ home and shot her, then killed himself. Her two young daughters were in the house at the time; they are unhurt, and are now staying with family.

Rebecka was a hairstylist.

Case status:
Jeremy Pearce (Ex-husband), deceased.

Source:
Rebecka J. Pearce, age 30
Marital discord preceded apparent murder-suicide of Granville sheriff’s deputy and his wife
Sheriff’s deputy, wife shot dead at Fuquay-Varina home

Sharon Greenop

Photo of Sharon Greenop, a middle-aged woman with short brown hair, photographed outdoors. The camera seems to have caught her off guard, since she has her eyes closed mid-blink.Name: Sharon Greenop.
Died: Months before November 10, 2016.
Age at death: 46.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland.
Disability: Prolapsed disc; mobility impaired.

Details:
Exactly how Sharon died was initially unknown because, when she died, her family left her body in her room for several months while they pretended on social media that she was still alive.

A year before Sharon died, they had fired her aide. Sharon became increasingly isolated and was mistreated and neglected by her family. They even threw away the table that she used to do jigsaw puzzles on.

Police labeled Sharon’s death “suspicious” and investigated for some weeks before eventually arresting her sister for beating Sharon, then refusing to get her treatment for the injuries that ultimately proved fatal.

Before her disability, Sharon had worked at a bakery.

Case status:
Lynnette Greenop (sister), convicted of murder, sentenced to 23 years.
Shayla Greenop (Daughter), charged with murder, acquitted.

Source:
Social workers could have prevented abuse of Troon murder victim Sharon Greenop
Disabled Ayrshire mum ‘murdered by sister after social workers abandoned her’
House of horrors: Disabled mum may have been dead in bedroom for months
Mum laid dead in bedroom for months in house full of tarantulas, rats, a blind cat and three-legged sheep dog
Woman may have lain dead in Troon home for months
Body of mum was found when neighbours noticed smell and fly infestation
Body of Ayrshire mum may have lain dead in her bedroom for months while family continued living there
Sharon Greenop ‘lay dead in house full of flies for FIVE MONTHS’
Woman ‘lay dead for WEEKS’ as daughter and sister carried on as normal
Police confirm death of Troon mum found in bedroom treated as ‘suspicious’
Funeral to be held for disabled mum who was found decomposing in Troon
Sister of Sharon Greenop whose body was discovered in her Troon house appears in court charged with murder
Murder trial: ‘Family used candles to hide body smell’
Sister and daughter of disabled Troon mum Sharon Greenop on trial for murder
‘Murder victim’ spotted with black eye
‘Fear factor’ when sister moved in
Disabled woman’s sister guilty of murder as daughter is cleared
Jailed: Callous killer who left sister to die in agony

Janice and Robyn Frescura

Photo of Janice and Robyn Frescura. Janice is an older woman with fair skin and gray hair; Robyn is a middle-aged woman with brown hair and fair skin. Both women are wearing glasses, shirts and jackets.Name: Janice Frescura.
Age at death: 68.
Disability: Lung cancer.

Name: Robyn Frescura.
Age at death: 50.
Disability: Unspecified.

Died: November 3, 2016.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Booral, Queensland, Australia.

Details:
Janice and her daughter Robyn were shot to death in a murder-suicide.

Case status:
John Frescura (Husband/father), deceased.

Source:
Three dead in apparent murder-suicide
Father calls police during murder-suicide
Three dead in suspected murder-suicide on Queensland’s Fraser Coast

Mark Mellor

Photo of Mark Mellor, a young man wearing a gray suit and tie. He has fair skin with ruddy cheeks and short brown hair; he is smiling at the camera.Name: Mark Mellor.
Died: October 16, 2016.
Age at death: 31.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Carlock, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Depression.

Details:
Mark was stabbed to death by his wife because he threw a drink at the wall of the cabin while they were camping. She blamed his depression for their “stressful marriage”.

Mark was a nature lover who enjoyed hunting, fishing, and camping; he was at home surviving in the wilderness. He worked for the county animal control department.

Case status:
Sarah Mellor (Wife), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 8 years.

Source:
Bloomington woman gets 8 years in stabbing death of husband
Judge: ‘Sorry will not bring him back’
Mark Mellor

Sirajubai

No PhotoName: Sirajubai “Vaijanti”.
Died: October 8, 2016.
Age at death: 35.
Cause of death: Burned.
Location: Wadgaon-Gujar, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
Disability: Chronic illness.

Details:
Sirajubai’s body was found in a well; she had been burned to death. Police arrested her boyfriend, who had reportedly “become tired of her chronic illness”.

She was the mother of three daughters and a son, and stepmother to two sons and a daughter.

Case status:
Hariprasad Yadav (Boyfriend), arrested.

Source:
Irked by her chronic illness, man kills paramour

Shobhana Kunnath

Photo of Shobhana, an Indian woman with her dark brown hair pulled back. She has light-brown skin and a bindi on her forehead, and is wearing a flower-print sari over a dark shirt.Name: Shobhana Kunnath.
Died: September 26, 2016.
Age at death: 55.
Cause of death: Neglect.
Location: Edappal, Malappuram, Kerala, India.
Disability: Mentally disabled.

Details:
Shobhana and her daughter Shruthi, who both had a mental disorder, were living in a house by themselves. Their family lived nearby and were wealthy but apparently made no effort to ensure their welfare. Unable to care for themselves, Shobhana and Shruthi went hungry. After a week of starvation, Shobhana died and Shruthi was found weak from hunger.

Case status:
Her family is under investigation.
The Human Rights Commission has registered a case.

Source:
Mentally challenged woman starves to death
Woman found starved to death at Edappal
Mentally disabled woman starves to death in Edappal
Mentally unstable woman found dead
Did mental illness and social neglect cause these two Kerala families to starve?

Stephanie McGeough

Photo of a smiling woman with brown curly hair and light skin.Name: Stephanie McGeough.
Died: September 21, 2016 (Body found).
Age at death: 54.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: San Andreas, California, USA.
Disability: Depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, arthritis.

Details:
Only days after Stephanie’s brother moved in with her, he strangled her. Her body was found at her house a few weeks later, and her brother arrested after he went on the run.

Stephanie kept a very tidy house. She liked traveling and children and had one nephew. As a young woman, she played soccer in her school’s recreational league. She was a history buff and a fan of Queen Elizabeth I, and a music lover who liked rock-and-roll and the bands Rush and the Allman Brothers. She worked for Sprint.

Case status:
Sean McGeough (Brother), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to 25 years to life.

Source:
McGeough gets life in prison for murder of sister
McGeough trial draws to a close; question of murder or suicide put before jury
Stephanie McGeough’s Obituary

Barbara Getman

Photo of Barbara Getman, a Caucasian woman with curly brown hair and straight bangs that fall across her face.Name: Barbara Getman.
Died: August 17, 2016.
Age at death: 39.
Cause of death: Internal bleeding.
Location: Watertown, New York, USA.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, depression, borderline personality, PTSD.

Details:
Barbara liked camping and reading crime novels. She worked at a fish hatchery.

Barbara’s boyfriend beat her to death, hitting her so hard in the stomach that her liver ruptured.

Case status:
Gregory Noonan (Boyfriend), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 25 years to life.

Source:
Noonan sentenced for 2016 slaying
Gregory Noonan found guilty of killing Barbara Getman
Jury Hears Noonan’s Recorded Statement To Police
Barbara Lee Getman
Watertown Man Charged in Housemate’s Killing

Ronald Bettig

Photo of Ronald Bettig, an elderly man with pale skin and white hair and beard, wearing glasses and a colorful shirt.Name: Ronald Valentine Bettig.
Died: August 17, 2016 (Body found); died August 12-14, 2016.
Age at death: 56.
Cause of death: Dehydration, fall injuries.
Location: Black Hawk Quarry, Central County, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Depression/adjustment disorder, dementia.

Details:
Lonely and depressed after the death of his wife, Ronald took in a woman and her child as housemates. Thinking they would get money in his will, the woman and her boyfriend plotted to kill Ronald. They lured him to a quarry, where they pushed him over a 70-foot cliff. With all four limbs broken, Ronald may have lived for up to two days before dying of dehydration. The killers tried to pass it off as a suicide.

Case status:
George G. Ishler Jr., convicted of murder, sentenced to life without parole.
Danelle Geier, convicted of murder, sentenced to life without parole.

Source:
Was there a motive to kill a Penn State professor?
PSU professor struggled personally, professionally before death: Co-workers, acquaintances
Penn State professor Ronald Bettig allegedly pushed off cliff by Danelle Geier, George Ishler in Pennsylvania
Woman charged in death of PSU professor
State College, PA – Trial Begins for Two Accused of Murdering Penn State Professor –
Two found guilty in the 2016 murder of a Penn State professor
Verdict delivered in Penn State professor’s death
‘I can still hear the crunch today.’ George Ishler takes the stand