Mx. Daxer – Page 193 – Disability Day of Mourning

Cora Okonski

Name: Cora Okonski.
Died: April 16, 2000 (Last seen); body never found.
Age at death: 23.
Cause of death: Missing, presumed dead.
Location: Tama, Iowa, USA.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, ADHD.

Details:
After telling her friend that she was afraid that her fiance was going to kill her, Cora Okonski disappeared, leaving behind her two-year-old son. Seventeen years later, with Cora still missing, her fiance was charged with her murder. Her son was adopted by family.

Cora’s murder trial is proceeding even though her body was never found, but there is good evidence that she is dead. After she disappeared, her family didn’t hear from her, and her disability payments went uncollected. The case broke when Cora’s fiance, in prison for unrelated charges, bragged to another prisoner that he had “choke-slammed” Cora and buried her body.

Case status:
Tait Purk (Fiance), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 35-50 years in prison.

Source:
Murder trial for Iowa woman whose body was never found begins Monday
Prosecution witnesses testify in Purk murder trial
Cora Okonski feared for her life, friend testifies at Tait Purk murder trial
Cara Okonski feared for her life, friend testifies in murder trial
UPDATE: Purk case goes to the jury
Iowa mom’s 2000 disappearance now investigated as murder
Tait Purk found guilty of fiancee’s murder
Tait Purk guilty of killing fiancée in rare murder trial with no body

Joseph Beebe

Name: Joseph Jose Beebe.
Died: March 17, 2000.
Age at death: 8.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Tarkington Prairie, Texas, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol syndrome.

Details:
Joseph, who told his triplet siblings that he wanted to give them a better life, was beaten to death by his adoptive mother for wetting his pants. When Joseph died, they were removed from the home, and survived.

Case status:
Edith Beebe (Adoptive mother), convicted of injury to a child, 30-75 years.
Brian Beebe (Adoptive father), convicted of failure to protect, served 6 months of a 10-year sentence.
Justin Martin (Stepbrother), convicted of injury to a child, served 6 months of a 10-year sentence.

Source:
Survivor of childhood abuse moves forward by looking back
WHO’S TO BLAME FOR Joseph’s DEATH?
Joseph Jose Beebe

Cynthia Hrisco

Photo of Cynthia Hrisco, a middle-aged woman with shoulder-length brown hair and bangs, holding a flowered parasol and wearing a flowered dress. Name: Cynthia Hrisco.
Died: February 28, 2000.
Age at death: 47.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: South Barrington, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Rheumatoid arthritis, wheelchair user.

Details:
Cynthia’s husband drowned her in their bathtub because she wanted to sue his cousin for shoddy workmanship and cost overruns during the building of their home.

Cynthia had a degree in nutrition and worked from her home as a nutrition counselor. She had an adopted son.

Case status:
Frank Buschauer (Husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to 25 years.

Source:
Cynthia Hrisco Murder: Where Is Frank Buschauer Now?
Happy marriage turned hostile, prosecutors say, as trial begins for man charged with murder in wife’s death in 2000
South Barrington couple’s squabbles dominate first day of husband’s murder trial
In 2000, South Barrington man told cops his wife drowned in the bathtub. Today, he goes on trial for murder.
Man Charged With Drowning Wife 13 Years Ago In South Barrington

Timothy Boss

School photo of a boy with short, very curly black hair and brown skin and eyes. He is wearing a loose sweater, and has his arms folded in front of him. His expression is neutral. Name: Timothy Boss.
Died: February 23, 2000.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Homicide.
Location: Remsen, Iowa, USA.
Disability: Unspecified “special needs”.

Details:
Timothy’s adoptive parents beat him, and when he died from their abuse, buried his body in their basement.

Case status:
Donald Boss Jr. (Adoptive father), first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Lisa Boss Green (Adoptive mother), voluntary manslaughter/attempted murder/child endangerment/willful injury, 50 years prison.

Source:
Timothy Boss

Annette Bouwer

Photo of Annette Bouwer, a middle-aged woman with light, tanned skin and short, silver-gray hair. Name: Annette Bouwer.
Died: January 5, 2000.
Age at death: 47.
Cause of death: Sedative and insulin poisoning.
Location: Dunedin, New Zealand.
Disability: Chronic kidney disease.

Details:
Annette was poisoned with sedatives and insulin by her husband, who had just taken out a life insurance policy on her.

Case status:
Colin Bouwer (Husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to 15 years to life, paroled after sixteen years.

Source:
Colin Bouwer
Colin Bouwer remains defiant over wife’s murder
Poison murderer Colin Bouwer: ‘I’m a changed man’
Psychiatrist who poisoned wife to be with lover died after being deported

James Cummings Jr.

No Photo Name: James Joseph Cummings Jr.
Died: November 16, 1999.
Age at death: 46.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Red Bank, New Jersey, USA.
Disability: Autism; Stroke.

Details:
James was stabbed to death by his father, who went to the care facility where he was staying and killed him with a kitchen knife to the heart.

Case status:
James Cummings Sr. (Father). Sentenced to five years in prison.

Source:
Autism Memorial: James Joseph Cummings Jr.
Father Admits Killing Autistic Son

Jillian Thomas

Photo of Jillian Thomas. She is a woman with ruddy skin and short brown curly hair, wearing a white blouse and earrings. Name: Jillian Thomas.
Died: October 4, 1999.
Age at death: 45.
Cause of death: Unspecified; possibly fire.
Location: Canterbury, New Zealand.
Disability: Multiple sclerosis.

Details:
Having found a new girlfriend, Jillian’s husband killed or incapacitated her before putting her body into the family car and setting it on fire.

Jillian had a Master’s degree in English and a teaching certificate; she worked for years teaching English and French.

Case status:
Kevin Harmer (Husband), convicted of murder, out on parole after 14 years in prison.

Source:
A killer in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens
Canterbury man jailed for burning his wife to death out on parole
Injustice Trust – Jillian Faye Thomas
The farmer, the dead wife, the escort and the murder trial
Wife killer Kevin Harmer released from prison

Daniel Leubner

Name: Daniel “Danny” Leubner.
Died: September 4, 1999.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Smoke inhalation.
Location: Auburn, New York, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Danny died by smoke inhalation in a house fire deliberately set by his mother.

Case status:
Michelle Davis (Mother). Pled guilty to manslaughter; sentenced to six years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Daniel Leubner
Justice for Danny
Cayuga County child killer back in court

Peggy Johnson

Composite image of Peggy Lynn Johnson, a young woman with very curly blond hair, a small nose, pointed chin, and hazel eyes. Name: Peggy Lynn Johnson.
Died: July 21, 1999.
Age at death: 23.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: Racine County, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
After the death of her mother, 18-year-old Peggy went to a nearby hospital and asked for help. There, a nurse took her in. But her new caregiver abused Peggy, yelling at her, starving her, and beating her; once she attacked Peggy with a pitchfork. Peggy was made to live in a crawl space, and banished there whenever she wasn’t doing chores. After years of abuse, Peggy died from sepsis pneumonia due to her many injuries.

Peggy’s body was found dumped on the side of the road, but she could not be identified for many years. She was known as the “Racine County Jane Doe”, and nearby residents bought her a gravestone. It wasn’t until 2019 that a tipster reported overhearing the nurse talking about having killed someone and called the police, who arrested the nurse and identified Peggy as the victim who had long gone unidentified. When she was finally identified and journalists went to photograph her gravestone, they found that a member of the community had been there and left some flowers, a balloon, and a little wooden sign with Peggy’s real name. It had been a full 20 years since her murder.

Case status:
Linda La Roche (Caregiver), convicted of convicted of first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse; sentenced to life without parole plus five years.

Source:
Watch now: Life in prison for woman convicted of killing Peggy Lynn Johnson-Schroeder
LaRoche Sentenced to Life in Prison for 1999 ‘Jane Doe’ Murder
Former Nurse Gets Life Sentence For Torturing, Murdering Her Disabled Nanny In 1999
Former McHenry nurse convicted in cold case murder of disabled woman found brutally tortured
Murder of Peggy Johnson
Racine County ‘Jane Doe’ identified, nurse arrested in 1999 murder
Nurse arrested for killing mentally-ill woman’ found dead 20 years ago
Woman arrested for 1999 murder of Jane Doe found in cornfield; victim suffered ‘barbaric brutality,’ sheriff says
Horrific details emerge in ‘barbaric’ murder of 1999 Jane Doe
Cape Coral nurse arrested for killing disabled woman 20 years ago
McHenry woman identified as victim of 1999 cold case murder in Wisconsin

Joy Martin

Photo of Joy Martin, an elderly woman with light skin and straight gray hair. The photo shows only the left half of the face. Name: Joy Martin.
Died: May 28, 1999.
Age at death: 69.
Cause of death: Morphine poisoning.
Location: Wanganui, New Zealand.
Disability: Terminal cancer.

Details:
As she lay dying of cancer, Joy’s daughter injected her with a lethal dose of morphine.

After Joy was dead, her daughter wrote a book about killing her mother and was arrested.

Joy’s portrait on this memorial comes from the cover of her daughter’s book. It includes only half her face because on the book’s cover, her daughter used photo manipulation to combine half her face with half of Joy’s. In keeping with my policy of giving the killer as little publicity as possible, the daughter’s part of that image has been cropped out. –Editor

Case status:
Lesley Martin (Daughter), convicted of attempted murder; sentenced to 15 months, released after serving half her sentence.

Source:
Lesley Martin jailed for 15 months