Age: Adult – Page 44 – Disability Day of Mourning

Dorothy and Janet Cunningham

No Photo Name: Janet Cunningham.
Disability: Head injury from car accident.
Age at death: 43.

Name: Dorothy Cunningham.
Disability: Osteoporosis.
Age at death: 62.

Died: September 8, 1992.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Farmingham, Utah, USA.

Details:
Dorothy and Janet were hacked to death with a hatchet.

Dorothy, a homemaker, taught piano lessons. Janet loved skiing and was a former member of the National Ski Patrol.

Case status:
Ronald Cunningham (Janet’s father and Dorothy’s husband). Incompetent to stand trial; charges dropped.

Source:
Davis to drop murder counts against man in mental facility
MURDER SUSPECT TO REMAIN IN HOSPITAL

Ed Dossett

Name: Ed Dossett.
Died: August 12, 1992.
Age at death: 44.
Cause of death: Murder.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: Terminal cancer.

Details:
Ed was drugged with an overdose of morphine; then he was placed in a cattle pen, where he was trampled. The incident was initially written off as an agricultural accident until his wife, charged with killing her second husband, David Leath, came under suspicion for Ed’s death as well.

Ed Dossett served as the Knox County District Attorney General.

Case status:
Raynella Leath (Wife), charged with murder, convicted; conviction overturned, judge declared insufficient evidence to re-try the case.

Source:
Raynella Leath
Tennessee Woman Accused in a Trail of Death
Widow indicted in death once ruled a farm accident
Raynella Dossett 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

Mark Dowell

Gravestone for Mark Lee Dowell, April 2 1956 to January 27 1992. The stone is a granite plaque engraved with flowers. Name: Mark Lee Dowell.
Died: January 27, 1992.
Age at death: 35.
Cause of death: Drug overdose.
Location: San Diego, California, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Mark’s mother allegedly poisoned him with a drug overdose.

Case status:
Josephine Dowell (Mother), status unknown.

Source:
(Untitled newspaper article)
Mark Lee Dowell: Find A Grave

James Nazar

Photo: Tombstone of James Nazar, reading, THEIR LOVE AND TENDERNESS TOUCHED OUR HEARTS FONDLY LOVED AND DEARLY MOURNED Name: James Nazar.
Died: January 23, 1992.
Age at death: 44-45.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada.
Disability: Quadriplegic.

Details:
James was shot to death by his father in a murder-suicide.

Case status:
John Nazar (Father), deceased.

Source:
People with Disabilities Outraged by Murders
Remembering…
In Memory
Find a Grave: John Nazar

Alice Hummel

Name: Alice Hummel.
Died: Missing October 6, 1990; body not found.
Age at death: 46.
Cause of death: Missing, presumed dead.
Location: Bellingham, Washington, USA.
Disability: Lupus.

Details:
Alice was killed by her husband. Her body was never found, so we don’t know how she died, but her husband told a cellmate that he had fed her poison in a glass of apple juice to “help [her] get to a better place”.

Alice was a retired teacher.

Case status:
Bruce Allen Hummel (Husband), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to 45 years; conviction overturned because the jurors had been questioned improperly. Re-tried; convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to 26 years; conviction overturned because premeditation could not be proved. Convicted of wire fraud for stealing Alice’s disability checks; spent a total of 10 years in prison before release.

Source:
Bruce Hummel
Murder conviction overturned for Bruce Hummel, again, in death of his wife in Bellingham
The Charley Project: Alice Kristina Wehr Hummel
45 years for man who won’t say what happened to wife’s body

Malanie and Medhini Paul

No Photo Name: Dr. Malanie Desilva Paul.
Age at death: 48.
Disability: Arthritis, depression.

Name: Medhini Paul.
Age at death: 17.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Name: Anthony Rajiva Paul.
Age at death: 12.
Disability: None.

Died: June 16, 1990.
Cause of death: Poisoned.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Details:
Dr. Malanie Paul, her 17-year-old daughter Medhini, and her son Anthony Rajiva were killed by her husband, also a doctor, who sedated his family and then attached them and himself to IVs full of poison. Apparently, he had decided that there was “no alternative to death” for his disabled wife and daughter, and had killed twelve-year-old Anthony too because he feared that the boy would enter the foster care system and become “a freak”.

Case status:
Anthony R. Paul (Husband/Father), deceased.

Source:
No Hope, Doctor Ends Family’s Lives

Chucky Sweeten

Name: Charles Forester Jr.; also known as Chucky Sweeten.
Died: January 24, 1990.
Age at death: 39.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Citing years of abuse, Chucky’s mother shot her husband Tom, then shot Chucky because she “loved him and knew no one else would take care of him”.

Case status:
Dorothea Sweeten (Mother), charged with murder, died before trial.

Source:
Charles H. Forester Jr. (1950-1990) – Find A Grave
NATION : Woman Held in Family Slayings
Woman kills husband, retarded son
Woman kills husband and son

Patricia McNeely

Name: Patricia McNeely.
Died: April 14, 1989.
Age at death: 32.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Clearwater, Florida, USA.
Disability: Visually impaired.

Details:
Patricia’s father killed her and her mother Flora before committing suicide.

Case status:
Warren McNeely (Father), deceased.

Source:
Man kills ex-wife, child, himself
Slayings continue to haunt family

Gail Terrell

A gravestone made for a married couple, decorated with an urn for flowers. It reads: Terrell. Bernie Lee, Gail Melody. The death date for Bernie Lee is blank; the death date for Gail Melody is filled in. The dates are too small to make out. Name: Gail Terrell.
Died: November 13, 1988.
Age at death: 32.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Smyrna, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Epilepsy, cerebral palsy.

Details:
Gail’s mother shot her.

Case status:
Barbara Monroe (Mother); offered to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was ordered to serve 5 years of a 20-year sentence.

Source:
Mother wants year of home confinement in slaying plea

Olla Mae Waller

Name: Olla Mae Waller.
Died: August 23, 1987.
Age at death: 54.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
Disability: Multiple sclerosis.

Details:
Olla was strangled by her husband, who also killed her daughter Lucinda Joan Zupan, age 30, and her grandson Brandon Zupan, age 7, before killing himself. Apparently, he also intended to kill Lucinda’s estranged husband, having tried to lure him to their house; but the man went to work instead and survived. Police believe the killer was stressed by Lucinda’s marital problems, and by being the primary caregiver for Olla Mae, who used a wheelchair.

Case Status:
Henry “Hank” Waller (Husband), deceased.

Sources:
Olla Mae Lemons Waller
Four Dead in Murder-Suicide In Colorado Springs
Killer Triggers by Joe Kenda: New Excerpt
Killings of three or more people pepper Colorado Springs history