Category: Age: Adult

Age 30-59

Evelyn Joel

Photo of Evelyn Joel. She is a middle-aged woman with pale skin and graying dark-brown hair and glasses, holding a baby.Name: Evelyn Joel.
Died: January 7, 2006.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: Enniscorthy, Ireland.
Disability: Multiple sclerosis.

Details:
Evelyn’s health rapidly declined while she was in the care of her family. By the time she was hospitalized with multiple infected bedsores, she was too weak to recover when she caught pneumonia.

Case status:
Eleanor Joel (Daughter) and Jonathan Costen (Daughter’s husband), convicted of manslaughter; given two-year suspended sentence; sentence overturned because the health care workers involved in Evelyn’s care had not been summoned to testify at trial.

Source:
Court quashes couple’s convictions for killing Evelyn Joel
Couple will not face retrial over death of MS sufferer
Court quashes couple’s convictions for killing Evelyn Joel
Couple who left MS sufferer, Evelyn Joel, to die in her own filth receive suspended sentence
Ma neglect killer walk free from court
Appeal by couple convicted of letting MS sufferer die with ‘maggots in her infected bedsores’

Jason Ritzert

Photo of Jason Ritzert, an man wearing a headband and casual clothes and sitting on a dirt bike. He has a tattoo on his right arm.Name: Jason Ritzert.
Died: November 10, 2005.
Age at death: 30.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Jason’s roommates, who often abused him under the pretext of “punishing” him, set him on fire and then left his severe burns untreated for days before strangling him.

Case status:
Timothy Caldwell, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison.
Melissa Adams, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, sentenced to 30-60 years.
Russell Lee Hilliard, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, sentenced to 20-40 years.

Source:
Butler pair held in ‘bizarre’ killing of roommate

Donna Spadea

No PhotoName: Donna Spadea.
Died: June 26, 2005.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Poisoning.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Along with several other intellectually disabled adults, Donna was imprisoned, starved, drugged, and beaten by Linda Weston, who acted as her Social Security payee so that she could steal Donna’s money. Donna died after two months of captivity while she was imprisoned in a tiny laundry room, and toxicology testing revealed that she had been poisoned with the drugs Linda had regularly mixed into her food.

Case status:
Linda Weston (Caretaker), multiple charges, life sentence + 80 years.
Gregory Thomas, charged with hate crimes.
Jean McIntosh, pleaded guilty, sentenced to 40 years.
Eddie Wright, pleaded guilty, sentenced to 27 years.
Nicklaus Woodard, pleaded guilty to several charges, including conspiracy, kidnapping and using a firearm in an act of violence, sentenced to 27 years.

Source:
‘Tacony dungeon’ woman who imprisoned disabled adults gets life sentence + 80 years
Daughter of Tacony dungeon ‘mastermind’ gets 40 years – Metro Philadelphia
Tacony ‘dungeon’ case ends with admission of hate crimes against disabled
Seven years after rescue, ‘Tacony dungeon’ victims confront tormentor sentenced to 40 years
‘Pastor Wright,’ codefendant in Tacony dungeon case, gets 27 years in prison
“Basement of horrors” indictment brings light to 2008 Norfolk death
‘Tacony dungeon’ woman who imprisoned disabled adults gets life sentence + 80 years

Patrick Markcrow

No PhotoName: Patrick Markcrow.
Died: March 29, 2005.
Age at death: 36.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.
Disability: Down syndrome, autism.

Details:
Patrick’s mother drugged him and then suffocated him with a plastic bag.

He attended a day center where carers described Patrick as “a loving, private man”, who enjoyed swimming and going to a local coffee shop.

Case status:
Wendolyn Markcrow (Mother); pled guilty to manslaughter; given a 2-year suspended sentence.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Patrick Markcrow
Mother who killed son with Down’s syndrome gets suspended sentence

Betsy H.

No PhotoName: Betsy H.
Died: January 2, 2005.
Age at death: 51.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Hardenberg, Netherlands.
Disability: Intellectual disability, epilepsy.

Details:
For Betsy’s birthday, family and friends came to visit, but she cried through the afternoon. After the party guests had left, she had an epileptic seizure, during which her mother suffocated her with a pillow. Betsy’s mother confessed to the police afterward, but later claimed that she could not remember what she had done.

Case Status:
Margje H. (Mother), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 21 months in prison less time served.

Source:
Vrouw (80) verdacht van moord op gehandicapte dochter
Tachtigjarige doodde gehandicapte dochter – Blik op de Wereld
ECLI:NL:RBZLY:2005:AT4833, voorheen LJN AT4833, Rechtbank Zwolle-Lelystad, 07/400001-05

Karen Dreager

No PhotoName: Karen Elizabeth Dreager.
Died: August 31, 2004.
Age at death: 35.
Cause of death: Malnutrition.
Location: Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Karen was neglected by her family. She died of starvation, weighing 50 pounds, down from 200 pounds, covered in severe and untreated bedsores.

Case status:
Debra McMahon (Adoptive sister), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 15 years.
Paul McMahon (Brother-in-law), sentenced to 6 years.
Kimberly McMahon (Niece), charged with first-degree murder.

Source:
History of euthanasia in Canada
The Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities:
Murder charges for family in Oak Ridge starvation case
Family charged in starvation of kin
Woman Starved to Death
Family Charged in Starving Disabled Woman

Debbie Burns

Photo of Debbie Burns, a brown-haired woman in a sundress. She is smiling shyly.Name: Debbie Burns.
Died: August 15, 2004.
Age at death: 40.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Pinellas County, Florida, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability after brain damage from scarlet fever.

Details:
Debbie’s sister shot her to death.

Case status:
Barbara Ann Burns (Sister), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 15 years in prison; released after serving 12 years.

Source:
Barbara Ann BURNS
Woman reveals how she shot sister and lived with body for six weeks

Maggie Caraballo

No PhotoName: Maggie Caraballo.
Died: August 20, 2003.
Age at death: 38.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Maggie was allegedly beaten to death by her sister, who abused her and eventually caused a fatal head injury.

Case status:
Her sister, arrested.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Maggie Caraballo
City woman’s death ruled a homicide

James Orr

Photo of James Orr. He is an adult man with fair skin and black hair, smiling at the camera.Name: James Orr.
Died: May 14, 2003.
Age at death: 32.
Cause of death: Fire.
Location: Little Elm, Denton County, Texas, USA.
Disability: Wheelchair user (from childhood injury).

Details:
James’s wife set their house on fire, knowing he would burn to death. She intended to collect his life insurance.

Case status:
Rhonda Orr (Wife), sentenced to 88 years in prison.

Source:
Rhonda Orr