Month: January 2014

Arthur Pelham

Photo: An older man, balding, with brown hair, wearing a jacket and red shirt. Name: Arthur “Gary” Pelham.
Died: January 5, 2014.
Age at death: 66.
Cause of death: Hypothermia.
Location: Jonesboro, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, schizophrenia.

Details:
Gary’s caregiver locked him outside the house during a January ice storm and would not let him back inside. In ten hours, he was dead.

Mr. Pelham was a military veteran.

Case status:
Dale El Smith (Paid caregiver), convicted of murder, sentenced to life.

Source:
Murder conviction stands for woman who left veteran outside to freeze
Ex-caregiver gets life for murder in freezing death of man
Murder conviction stands for woman who left veteran outside to freeze
Murder conviction upheld for woman who let veteran freeze to death

Lena Smith

Photo of Lena Smith. She is an African-American woman wearing big hoop earrings. She has very curly black hair.Name: Lena “Elaine” Smith.
Died: January 2, 2014.
Age at death: 45.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Schizophrenia.

Details:
When Lena’s boyfriend stabbed her to death, he claimed he had done it in self-defense because she had schizophrenia and was violent. Lena did have schizophrenia–but she had been stabbed six times in the back, and the jury didn’t buy his self-defense claim.

Case status:
Ulysses Jay James (Ex-boyfriend), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 31 years.

Source:
Man who stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death in Norfolk gets 31 years
Police make arrest in stabbing death of Norfolk mother
Norfolk man stabbed his girlfriend in self-defense, lawyer argues as murder trial opens

Saharah Weatherspoon

Photo of Saharah Weatherspoon, a toddler girl sitting in a pink car seat. She has very curly black hair and brown skin.Name: Saharah Weatherspoon.
Died: January 1, 2014.
Age at death: 23 months.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Ringgold, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Developmental delay.

Details:
When doctors noticed Saharah’s bruises in the months before her fatal head injury, Saharah’s foster mother said Saharah was falling down because of her developmental delay and asked for a helmet. Saharah died of severe head injuries; she had been beaten to death by her foster mother.

Case status:
Clara Louise Edwards (Foster mother), pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, sentenced to 20 years.

Source:
Former Ringgold foster mom pleads guilty to killing baby, sentenced to 20 years
Defense wraps up its case with afternoon of testimony in Clara Edwards murder trial
Jury Reaches Verdict in Foster Child Death Case

Piotr Grabowski

Photo: Young man with pale skin and light-brown hair in a buzz cut.Name: Piotr Grabowski.
Died: Unspecified; killers sentenced in 2014 “after a lengthy trial”.
Age at death: 31.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Osztyn, Poland.
Disability: Unspecified; wheelchair user.

Details:
Piotr’s wife lured him into a park, where her two boyfriends were waiting to beat him to death.

Case status:
Joanna Grabowski (Wife); sentenced to 25 years.
Jacek Pawlak (Wife’s boyfriend), sentenced to life.
Lukasz Kaminski (Wife’s boyfriend), sentenced to life.

Source:
Wife rewarded two men who murdered her wheelchair-bound husband by having a threesome immediately after they killed him

Michael Jones

Photo of Michael Jones, a middle-aged man with light skin and brown eyes. He is balding and has a salt-and-pepper mustache and beard.Name: Michael Shane Jones.
Died: January 1, 2014.
Age at death: 48.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Stockton, California, USA.
Disability: Diabetes, chronic pain, mobility impaired.

Details:
Michael’s roommate stabbed him to death. Together with Michael’s girlfriend, he dismembered and tried to burn the body. To police, they claimed that it had been a mercy killing.

Case status:
Bryan Scott Cook (Caregiver, roommate), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 15 years to life
Valentina Paz (Girlfriend), pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact, sentenced to 2 years.

Source:
Suspect in dismemberment homicide to go to trial
Dismemberment called ‘sympathy killing’
Calif. couple accused of murder, dismemberment of roommate
Victim of bizarre Stockton killing identified
Man sentenced for murder, burning body in Groveland
Inmate suspected in stabbing death
Girlfriend of murdered man sentenced to two years in prison
Michael Shane Jones Allegedly Killed And Dismembered By California Roommates