Category: Age: Adult

Age 30-59

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

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 PhotoPhoto UnavailableName: 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)