Location: Australia – Page 4 – Disability Day of Mourning

Digby Dowdle

Name: Digby Dowdle.
Died: January 23, 2016.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Poisoning, asphyxiation.
Location: Wadalba, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: TBI due to car accident.

Details:
Digby’s mother sedated him and then suffocated him with a plastic bag.

Digby was often seen walking his greyhound Lucy.

Case Status:
Susan Marie Dowdle (Mother), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 2 years; released on time served.

Sources:
CENTRAL COAST MOTHER WHO KILLED SON RELEASED FROM PRISON | NBN News
In loving Memory Of my friend Digby Dowdle 1989 – 2016
’Kind’ mum charged with son’s murder
Digby Dowdle (26) Allegedly suffocated by his mother
R v Susan Dowdle

Samantha Kelly

Photo of Samantha Kelly. She has fair skin and bright red shoulder-length hair, and is wearing sunglasses. Name: Samantha Kelly.
Died: January 22, 2016.
Age at death: 39.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Kangaroo Flat, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Samantha and her four children lived with three housemates. The housemates eventually banned her from the main house and made her live in a rear bungalow, while they kept her children in the main house. Seeing the danger, Samantha asked a social worker to help her move out, but she never managed to escape.

Her housemates first tried drugging her. When that didn’t work, they beat her to death with a hammer and buried her body; then they claimed she had run off with a man and tried to take custody of her children.

The children, aged six, five, four, and 11 months, are safe and living with Samantha’s brother.

Case status:
Peter James Arthur (Housemate), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 18-22 years.
Christine Lyons (Housemate), convicted of murder and attempted murder, sentenced to 23-30 years.
Ronald Lyons (Housemate), convicted of attempted murder and assisting an offender, sentenced to 9-12 1/2 years.

Source:
Loner jailed over murder plot to steal kids
Bendigo man jailed for murdering woman with hammer over custody plot
‘Manipulated’ murder accused deeply regrets hammer killing of housemate
Vic accused killer wanted kids, court told
Vic murder accused said victim walked off
Christine was infertile and “desperately” wanted kids. So she masterminded a sick plan.
How a mother got trapped in squalid web of a woman who wanted to be ‘Ma’
Crown asks for life sentence as family grieves Samantha Kelly
‘I will never forgive you’: Murder victim’s family address killer who tried to take kids
Former Ballarat woman still denies she killed mum to gain custody of her kids
Woman jailed for 30 years for murdering mother to take her kids
Infertile woman planned murder of disabled neighbour to take custody of her four kids

Zvonimir Petrovski

Photo of Zvonimir Petrovski, a middle-aged man with dark brown hair and light skin, wearing a suit with a pink bow tie. His skin is slightly flushed, as though he finds the suit stifling. Name: Zvonimir Petrovski.
Died: November 21, 2015.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Mobility impaired; used crutches.

Details:
Zvonimir lived with a younger housemate who claimed he was her “father figure”. One day when his housemate demanded money for cigarettes and Zvonimir refused, she became angry and stabbed him to death.

Case status:
Anna Horneshaw (Housemate), convicted of murder, sentenced to 13-17 years in prison.

Source:
17 years jail for woman who stabbed ‘father figure’ to death in cigarette row
Woman jailed for killing housemate in ‘fit of rage’ over cigarette money

Gloria Reilly

No Photo Name: Gloria Reilly.
Died: November 13, 2015.
Age at death: 69.
Cause of death: Possible homicide.
Location: Geraldton, West Australia, Australia.
Disability: Chronic heart and lung disease.

Details:
Even though he knew Gloria’s fragile health made her more vulnerable to such an attack, Gloria’s son pushed her down and choked her. He claims to have let go of her when she said she couldn’t breathe and then left; but when he returned two hours later, she was dead.

Case status:
Damian Reilly (Son), pleaded guilty to endangering the life of his mother; sentenced to one year in jail, given credit for time served and released. Homicide could not be proven because of how frail Gloria already was.

Source:
Son jailed for attacking mum who then died
Son pleads not guilty over 69yo mum’s death
Son jailed for attacking mum who then died
Son gets 12 months’ jail for bashing mother found dead

Maureen Boyce

Photo of Maureen Boyce, a middle-aged woman with fair skin and straight blonde chin-length hair. She is wearing a fancy sequined dress and silver necklace. Name: Maureen Boyce.
Died: October 22, 2015.
Age at death: 68.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, depression.

Details:
Maureen was a socialite and former model who struggled with depression.

She was stabbed to death by her on-again, off-again boyfriend, who claimed it was suicide even though she had been stabbed so hard that the knife pinned her body to the bed where she was found.

Case status:
Thomas Chris Lang (Former partner), convicted of murder, sentenced to 20 years to life; conviction overturned on appeal; convicted of murder on retrial, sentenced to life.

Source:
Doctor jailed over socialite’s murder
Doctor jailed over the stabbing death of his Brisbane socialite lover has the conviction overturned
Brisbane socialite murder conviction quashed
Accused killer ‘depressed’ in weeks before Brisbane socialite’s death, court told
Tensions before socialite’s death, court hears
Son of man accused of murdering Maureen Boyce speaks out
Tensions before Qld socialite death: court
Accused killer close to tears in court
Former lover accused of jealousy killing – 9News
Sarina Russo expected to testify at trial
Socialite Maureen Boyce ‘wanted alleged killer to leave’
Strange coincidence in socialite murder trial
NZ doctor on trial for murder of Australian socialite
Businesswoman Sarina Russo tells court her friend was ‘very happy’ before her death
Socialite ‘happy’ before alleged murder – 9News
Qld jurors quiz socialite’s fatal wounds – 9News
Murder or suicide in society love triangle: Son speaks out to back murder-accused
Knife handle buried in body: murder trial
Lawyers for NZ doctor on murder charge discredit dead woman: ‘How can you rely on anything she says when she is capable of such blatant lies?’
Thomas Lang sentenced to life for murder of socialite Maureen Boyce
‘Maureen suffered all over again’
New Zealand-based doctor Thomas Lang’s chilling call to cops after murder: ‘There’s a knife in her abdomen – it looks self-inflicted’

Simone Mottram

Photo of Simone Mottram, a woman with fair skin and dark-brown hair in a ponytail, wearing a hot-pink shirt; she is smiling and looking down to the left. Name: Simone Mottram.
Died: October 19, 2015.
Age at death: 51.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Inverell, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Mental illness.

Details:
Simone’s son bludgeoned her with a bottle and stabbed her with a kitchen knife.

Case status:
Bradley Craig Mottram (Son), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 13-and-a-half to 18 years.

Source:
‘Troubled’ NSW man jailed for killing mum
Bradley Craig Mottram jailed 13 years for killing mum
Simone Mottram’s murder by her own son still ‘tortures’ her father
‘Totally inadequate’ sentence questioned by relatives as son jailed for killing his mother
Trial tipped in Mottram murder case

Jody Meyers

Photo of Jody Meyers. She has fair skin and blond hair with darker roots. She is holding a cell phone in a leopard-print cover, and wearing a silver ring and a peach sweater. Name: Jody Meyers.
Died: August 26-28, 2015.
Age at death: 20.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Mannum, South Australia, Australia.
Disability: Partially deaf.

Details:
Jody’s boyfriend strangled her; then he buried her under a concrete slab in the yard, reported her missing, and pretended to help search for her.

Case status:
Neil Archer (Partner), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 22 years to life.

Source:
Vile murderer’s plea for special treatment
Jody’s grieving family: throw the key away
22 years for ultimate act of betrayal

Lala Mardigan

Photo of Lala Mardigan. She is a young woman with dark brown skin, wearing a yellow shirt; she has headphones in her ears. Name: Lala Mardigan.
Died: Late July 2015.
Age at death: 20.
Cause of death: Malnutrition, infection.
Location: Wadeye, Northern Territory, Australia.
Disability: Lupus, intellectual disability.

Details:
Lala lived in a remote part of Australia. She had spent some time in foster care, but returned to her mother at age 18 even though her mother had told the health service she could not care for her. Despite a case worker’s warning that Lala was not being cared for, the health department did not assign her a guardian. At 20, Lala died from malnutrition and infection, a victim of neglect.

Case status:
No charges.

Source:
Twenty-year old’s death highlights the people in remote communities falling through the gaps
Aboriginal woman would be alive ‘if people in power cared’

Norma Ludlam

Name: Norma Ludlam.
Died: July 6, 2015.
Age at death: 75.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Eli Waters, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Frail elder.

Details:
Norma was severely beaten by her neighbor and caregiver. She was taken to the hospital alive, but survived only two days before succumbing to head injuries.

Case Status:
Frederick Ronald Sinfield (Neighbor, caregiver), convicted of murder, sentenced to life.

Sources:
Hervey Bay carer denies murdering frail friend | The Courier Mail
Man charged with 75-year-old Norma’s brutal murder
The Queen v Sinfield (No 2) [2019] QSCPR 5
Man accused of murdering 75yo Fraser Coast woman remanded in custody

Aidan Fenton

Portrait photo of a seated toddler boy with dark straight hair and fair skin, wearing a dark vest over a white dress shirt. Name: Aidan Fenton.
Died: April 27, 2015.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Insulin deprivation.
Location: Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Juvenile diabetes.

Details:
Aidan died after a “slapping therapy” workshop, a treatment that included several days of fasting and repeated, hard slaps meant to cause bruising and “release toxins”. He may also have been taken off insulin by his parents.

Case status:
Hong Chi Xiao (Healer), found guilty of manslaughter, sentenced to 7-10 years in prison.
Aidan’s parents Lily and Geoff Fenton were not charged and are suing the medical practice.

Source:
Aidan Fenton, 7, was made to fast before ‘slapping therapy’, then he vomited and died
Couple sue medical practice over the death of their son
Chinese ‘slapping therapy’ healer jailed over Australian diabetic boy’s death