Category: Age: Adult

Age 30-59

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

David Leath

Portrait of David Leath. He is a middle-aged man with curly brown hair and beard and light skin; he is wearing a striped shirt.Name: David Leath.
Died: March 13, 2003.
Age at death: 57.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
David’s wife allegedly drugged him, shot him, and then staged the scene to try to make it look like a suicide. She claimed he was despondent over his recent diagnosis of early dementia. However, evidence pointed to murder and she was arrested.

David Leath was a retired barber.

Case status:
Raynella Dossett Leath (Wife), charged with first-degree murder. Her first trial ended in a hung jury; her second trial was a conviction but was overturned; convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to 51 years to life. Charges related to the death of her first husband were dropped after she was sentenced. Granted a new trial based on the first judge’s drug use; new judge declared that insufficient evidence remained to prove guilt. Case dismissed.

Source:
Raynella Leath
David Robert Leath
Jury selection in accused black widow case underway
Testimony begins for woman accused of killing both of her husbands
Knox medical examiner calls death ‘homicide’ in accused black widow trial

Eric Bland

No PhotoName: Eric Bland.
Died: February 24, 2003.
Age at death: 38.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Rialto, California, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Eric’s sister and her boyfriend starved him to death.

Case status:
Delores Johnson (Sister); sentenced to 15 years to life.
Willie Brown (Sister’s boyfriend); sentenced to 18 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Eric Bland
Rialto woman sentenced in kin’s death
Varying Degrees of Disgust
Life with Aspergers: Murdering Disabled People

Nadine Richards

Black and white photo of a woman with dark hair and light skin; her expression is serious.Name: Nadine Dolores Richards.
Died: January 9, 2003.
Age at death: 46.
Cause of death: Burns.
Location: Sonora, California, USA.
Disability: Physical disability, unspecified.

Details:
Nadine’s brother poured a can of gasoline on his sister and set it on fire. Nadine died in the fire; the family dog also died, and the family’s home was destroyed.

Case Status:
Steven Richards (Brother), convicted of first-degree murder and arson, sentenced to 8 years plus 25 years to life in prison. Diagnosed with schizophrenia but found legally sane, having planned to kill his sister while his father was not home.

Sources:
Former Sonora Man Convicted Of Setting Sister On Fire, Denied Parole
Parole denied for former Tuolumne County man who burned sister alive in 2003
Nadine Dolores Richards (1956-2003)

Andy and Michael Scott

Photo of Andy and Michael Scott, two men with black hair and light-brown skin. There are balloons in the background.Name: Andy Byron Scott.
Age at death: 41.

Name: Michael Randy Scott.
Age at death: 42.

Died: June 8, 2002.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Spalding County, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Huntington’s disease.

Details:
Andy and Michael’s mother went to their nursing home and shot them.

Case status:
Carol Carr (Mother), pleaded guilty to assisted suicide, sentenced to 5 years in prison.

(There is no evidence that the two men ever asked their mother to help them commit suicide; she seems to have been the one who decided they should not live any longer. –Ed.)

Source:
Carol Carr

Unknown Man

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: March 12, 2002.
Age at death: 50s.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Intellectual disability, fronto-temporal dementia.

Details:
This man, whose name was not released, had a life-long intellectual disability, but began needing full-time care in his fifties, so he moved in with his father, his niece, and her baby son. His dementia had become quite severe, resulting in behavioral disinhibition, when he became confused and masturbated in the presence of his niece’s baby. She reacted by beating and kicking him to death.

He was a Vietnam veteran who worked stocking shelves before the dementia forced him to retire.

Case Status:
KMB (Niece), sentenced to 3-7 years.

Sources:
R v KMB [2005] NSWCCA 185 (6 May 2005)