Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Age 60+
Name: Betty Lyons.
Died: April 21, 2018.
Age at death: 85.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Rochester, England, UK.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.
Details:
Betty was strangled by her husband, who then hanged himself.
Case status:
George Lyons (Husband), deceased.
Source:
Wife’s Alzheimer’s ‘drove pensioner to murder-suicide’
Elderly woman with dementia found dead alongside husband
Pensioners found strangled and hanged
Name: Sharron Ann Wood.
Died: April 20, 2018.
Age at death: 68.
Cause of death: Bludgeoned.
Location: Niceville, Florida, USA.
Disability: Poor health.
Details:
Sharron had a son named James David, who had cerebral palsy and needed round-the-clock care. When Sharron’s own health began to worsen, her husband decided that caring for David was too much of a burden and that Sharron had “become hard to handle”. As they slept in their beds, he allegedly bludgeoned her and David with a metal mallet.
Sharron and David survived the initial attack, and were both taken to a hospital and then a rehabilitation facility. Sharron had to have facial reconstruction. However, nearly three months after the attack, Sharron died of her injuries. David survived, though with bleeding on the brain.
Sharron was a retired child care director who had worked at a local elementary school for fifteen years as well as helping her son David.
Case status:
Judson Anthony Wood (Husband), charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder; declared incompetent to stand trial and hospitalized in a forensic mental hospital to restore competency.
Source:
State charges Niceville man with murder in wife’s metal mallet death
Man who allegedly beat wife, son with metal mallet declared incompetent; wife dies
Elderly Man Attacks Wife and Disabled Son with Metal Mallet
Elderly Niceville resident charged with attempted murder after attacking two family members with metal mallet
Sharron Ann Wood’s Obituary on Northwest Florida Daily News
Name: Kathleen A. White-Grangruth.
Died: April 17, 2018.
Age at death: 61.
Cause of death: Burns; smoke inhalation.
Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Dementia, schizophrenia, mobility impaired (wheelchair user after hip injury).
Details:
Kathleen’s husband had been charged with assaulting her three times over twelve years. Tired of caring for her and having had a fight with her, he killed her by dousing her in gasoline and setting her on fire.
She was a retired Army nurse who spent her career at at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii.
Case status:
Delano Grangruth (Husband), pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, arson of an occupied dwelling and arson of real personal property; sentenced to 60 to 130 years in prison.
Source:
To ensure his wife would die, a Norfolk man disconnected the phone and smoke detector. Then he set her on fire.
Man admitted pouring gasoline on his disabled wife and burning her alive, Norfolk police say
Delano Grangruth Virginia husband sets Kathleen White-Grangruth on fire after huge fight
Man tells police he set his disabled wife ablaze in Virginia
Elderly woman found dead inside her Norfolk home, husband charged with murder
Husband charged with murder after wife found dead in Norfolk house fire
Husband charged with murder, arson after wife dies in Norfolk house fire
Norfolk man charged with killing his wife after her body was found in house fire
Kathleen White-Grangruth’s Obituary on The Virginian Pilot
‘I’m not a monster’: Man charged in wife’s death speaks from jail
Police: Man admitted pouring gasoline on disabled wife, burning her alive
Man Admits To Pouring Gasoline On Disabled Wife And Burning Her Alive, Police Say
Man set disabled wife on fire in drunken rage: Cop | Canoe
Man pleads guilty to first-degree murder, arson in wife’s April 2018 death
Man sentenced to 60 years for murdering wife, setting her on fire
Name: Judith Howe.
Died: April 16, 2018.
Age at death: 73.
Cause of death: Sepsis, malnutrition.
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease, aphasia.
Details:
When told by friends that she should take Judith to the doctor, Judith’s daughter and caregiver refused to do so despite her mother’s worsening condition and, instead of caring for her mother, spent her mother’s money on herself. Eventually someone called for a welfare check, and Judith was brought to the hospital with severe bedsores, weighing 80 pounds. Too far gone to survive, she died in hospice from a combination of infection and malnutrition.
Case status:
Sandy Howe (Daughter), convicted of abuse of an elderly person with severe bodily harm; sentenced to 6-15 years.
Source:
Police: Las Vegas woman’s neglect led to elderly mother’s 2018 death
Las Vegas woman charged with murder in ailing mother’s death
Report: Las Vegas woman facing murder charge neglected mother to the point of death
Woman faces murder, abuse and neglect charges in mother’s death
Name: John W. Nichols.
Died: April 14, 2018.
Age at death: 77.
Cause of death: Poisoning.
Location: Millmont, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Chronic heart disease.
Details:
John’s wife, a retired nurse and responsible for dispensing her husband’s medication, is accused of poisoning him with heart medication, causing his heart to fail and killing him. She had allegedly been draining their bank account and borrowing against his life-insurance policy.
John was a carpenter who liked fishing, hunting, and the outdoors.
Case Status:
Myrle E. Miller (Wife), charged with first-degree murder, felony insurance fraud theft, and perjury.
Sources:
Union County woman accused of ‘coldness of heart’ during homicide trial for death of husband
Witness admits to impersonating homicide victim at accused killer’s request
Prosecution rests in trial of Pa. woman accused of fatally poisoning her husband
History of Pa. woman accused of killing husband prompts pre-trial measures
Trial for Pa. woman accused of poisoning her husband delayed indefinitely
Jury selection set for Union County woman accused of killing husband
UPDATE Grand jury led to homicide charges against 76-year-old Winfield woman
Union County woman accused of poisoning husband has preliminary hearing Monday
Pennsylvania Woman Charged with Poisoning Her Husband
Remembering the life of John Nichols 1940 – 2018
Name: Susan Gibson.
Age at death: 75.
Disability: Unspecified; wheelchair user.
Name: Daniel L. Gibson.
Age at death: 17.
Disability: Unspecified; special needs.
Died: April 9, 2018.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Reeds Spring, Missouri, USA.
Details:
Susan and her grandson Daniel were shot dead by Susan’s son, Daniel’s father, in a murder-suicide. Also killed was Cynthia Miller, 43, the girlfriend of the killer.
Case status:
Victor Gibson (Father of Daniel, son of Susan), deceased.
Source:
Daniel Gibson, age 17
Neighbor describes family who lived at Stone County home where 4 were found dead
One teen, three adults die in suspected murder-suicide in Missouri Ozarks
Four found shot to death in home near Branson West
Name: David Arthur Parton.
Died: April 1, 2018.
Age at death: 76.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Canton, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Parkinson’s disease.
Details:
David’s wife had allegedly been abusing him for some time before he died from a severe beating.
Case status:
Betty Sue Parton (Wife), charged with felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, and elder abuse.
Source:
Ball Ground woman charged with murder in death of disabled husband
Woman Charged With Killing Disabled Husband In Cherokee County
Bond Denied For Woman Accused Of Killing Disabled Husband
74-year-old woman indicted, accused of killing disabled husband
76-year-old woman faces grand jury indictment in murder of disabled husband
Obituary for David Parton – CANTON, GA
Name: Douglas Fischer.
Died: March 29, 2018.
Age at death: 77.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Bluevale, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Mobility impaired (Used wheelchair or walker).
Details:
Doug’s daughter was dating a man who planned to move in with them and help care for Doug and his wife. But when the relationship broke up, his daughter’s ex became angry and violent. He entered their house, shot Doug and his wife Marian, and held Doug’s daughter Gail hostage. Gail was able to call 911, but by the time police arrived, Douglas and Marian had died from their wounds.
Douglas and Marian had been married in 2011, creating a blended family that included five children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were both retired.
Case statys:
Kevin Carter (Daughter’s ex-boyfriend), pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping, sentenced to 25 years to life.
Source:
Huron County man Kevin Carter admits to grisly murders of ex-girlfriend’s parents
Huron County double homicide victims identified
Name: Susao Okuda.
Died: March 16, 2018.
Age at death: 76.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan.
Disability: Mobility impaired due to stroke.
Details:
Mr. Okuda’s wife went to a neighbor and asked them to call the police. The police, who found Mr. Okuda strangled in his home, questioned his wife. Police say she admitted that she had “become tired” because she had to care for him, so she killed him.
Case status:
Sachiko Okuda (Wife), arrested on suspicion of murder.
Source:
65-year-old woman arrested over death of bedridden husband
Chiba: Woman, 65, accused of killing disabled husband
Name: Patricia Preshner Gottlieb.
Died: March 12, 2018.
Age at death: 83.
Cause of death: Sepsis.
Location: Havertown, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Dementia.
Details:
Patricia’s daughter neglected her. She died of sepsis from having been kept in a filthy environment, covered in bedsores, and was denied even basic care.
She had two grandchildren.
Case status:
Ellyn Gottlieb (Daughter), open guilty plea to neglect of an elder, sentenced to one year less a day to two years less a day in prison.
Source:
Havertown woman charged with neglect, death of her mother
Pennsylvania woman charged in mother’s death after victim found covered in feces, ulcers
‘Inhumanely Treated By Her Daughter’: Haverford Township Woman Arrested In Death Of 83-Year-Old Mother
Woman charged with neglect in death of her mother, 83
PATRICIA GOTTLIEB Obituary