Henry Sochalski

Black and white photo of Henry Sochalski. He has dark hair and fair skin, and is wearing a policeman's uniform and glasses. He has a bushy mustache.Name: Henry A. “Butch” Sochalski.
Died: May 19, 2016.
Age at death: 64.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.
Disability: Recent hypoxic brain injury; back problems.

Details:
Henry went to the hospital for elective surgery to help with his back problems, but the surgery went badly and Henry went into cardiac arrest. He was resuscitated, but his brain had been injured from lack of oxygen.

Henry’s wife, who had worked as a nurse for forty years, first tried to kill him by getting the nurses to give him a medication that would have depressed his breathing, but they refused. Then she pressed the button on his patient-administered pain medication over and over, trying to poison him, but the device automatically limited itself to a safe dose. In the end she allegedly lay across his chest, pinched his nose, and suffocated him.

Henry Sochalski was a retired police officer. He loved riding his motorcycle.

Case status:
Jan Sochalski (Wife), charged with second-degree murder, died before trial.

Sources:
Murder defendant found dead in her Palm Coast home
Sochalski Obituary
A man was suffocated to death in the hospital. The suspect? His wife, a retired nurse.
Florida woman accused of killing husband in hospital bed
Florida woman allegedly murdered husband by plugging his nose
Henry & Jan Sochalski: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Palm Coast wife accused of killing husband at Florida Hospital held on $250,000 bail
Wife charged with killing former N.J. cop in Fla.

Carolyn Hager

Portrait photo of Carolyn Hager, an elderly woman with pale blond hair.Name: Carolyn Hager.
Died: May 16, 2016.
Age at death: 78.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA.
Disability: Arthritis, lung cancer, chronic illness.

Details:
Carolyn’s husband shot her in the head.

Carolyn’s neighbors remember her as an artistic woman who maintained a beautiful garden and could often be seen outside tending her plants.

Case status:
William J. Hager (Husband), pleaded no contest to manslaughter, sentenced to nine years.

Source:
Port St. Lucie man who killed ailing wife in ‘act of love’ gets 9 years
Police: Man killed wife because he couldn’t afford medications
Florida Man Says He Killed Sick Wife Because He Couldn’t Afford Her Medicine, Sheriff Says
Port St. Lucie man accused of shooting wife because she was in pain & he couldn’t afford medications
Port St. Lucie man charged with murder in wife’s killing
Police: Man kills wife, blames high medication prices
Man says he killed sick wife because he couldn’t afford her medication

Gertrud Sigman

No PhotoName: Gertrud “Trudy” Sigman.
Died: May 7, 2016.
Age at death: 92.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Orange Park, Florida, USA.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
Gertrud, whom everyone called Trudy, was a retired professional ballet dancer who had graduated from the Vienna Conservatory. She liked to cook and garden.

Trudy was beaten and strangled to death by her son.

Case status:
Lawrence Sigman (Son), deceased.

Source:
Clay County Sheriff’s Office closes case as murder-suicide
Death investigation underway in wake of domestic dispute
Clay County Sheriff’s Office closes case as murder-suicide
Obituary | Trudy Sigman of Orange Park, Florida

Marie Stempinski

Portrait photo of Marie Stempinski. She is a woman with pale skin and gray hair, wearing business attire and chunky red earrings.Name: Marie Stempinski.
Died: April 29, 2016.
Age at death: 72.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.
Disability: Mobility impairment from hip injury.

Details:
Before she retired, Marie had worked as a TV news reporter, then as a public relations consultant. When she suffered a hip injury, she started using a wheelchair.

Marie’s husband shot her and then killed himself.

Case status:
Gerard Stempinski (Husband), deceased.

Source:
St. Petersburg, Florida: Man shoots wheelchair-bound wife and then kills himself
Ex-cop Gerard Stempinski kills wife Marie then himself in murder-suicide in Florida

Patricia Gordon

No PhotoName: Patricia Gordon.
Died: April 28, 2016.
Age at death: 63.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: Troon, Scotland, UK.
Disability: Health anxiety, depression, lung cancer.

Details:
Patricia hated doctors and didn’t want to go to see one, but was worried that she had lung cancer. One day when she was in pain, instead of taking her to a doctor, her husband smothered her to death with a pillow.

Although he admitted to killing her, the murder charge was dropped after a family member explained to the court how sick Patricia had been and how hard it had been for her husband to care for her.

Case status:
Ian Gordon (Husband), convicted of culpable homicide, sentenced to 3 years, 4 months; sentence overturned, released.

Source:
Pensioner cleared of murder after smothering his wife
Husband who smothered wife to death with pillow cleared of murder
Troon pillow killer Ian Gordon jailed for three years
Judges overturn sentence for man who killed his wife
Husband jailed for culpable homicide over ‘mercy killing’ of terminally wife admonished following appeal

Patricia Myers

Close-up photo of Patricia Myers, a middle-aged African-american woman.Name: Patricia Myers.
Died: April 23, 2016.
Age at death: 69.
Cause of death: Beaten, stabbed.
Location: Bronx, New York, USA.
Disability: Chronic lung disease.

Details:
Patricia was a retired nurse.

Her nephew had just been released from prison, so Patricia welcomed him into her home. Then she disappeared, leaving behind the oxygen tank and mask she needed to breathe, and police dogs found blood in her apartment. Her nephew confessed to beating and stabbing her to death and burying her body in a suitcase.

Case status:
Andros Topping (Nephew), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 15 years to life.

Source:
Ex-con gets 15 years to life for killing his aunt in her Bronx home and stuffing her body in a suitcase
Ex-con charged with murder reportedly confesses to beating aunt to death
Nephew of missing retired Bronx nurse charged with murder, manslaughter for her death

Cecilia Madray

Photo of an older woman in a turqoise top; she has olive skin and black hair with gray roots. She is wearing glasses.Name: Cecilia “Suzy” Madray.
Died: April 21, 2016.
Age at death: 76.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Mahaicony, Guyana.
Disability: Unspecified; bedridden following an accident.

Details:
Suzy’s son bludgeoned her to death with a piece of wood. 

Case status:
Terrence Madray (Son), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 21 years.

Source:
Man gets 21 years for killing bedridden mother
21 years in jail

Barbara Kavanaugh

No PhotoName: Barbara Kavanaugh.
Died: April 19, 2016.
Age at death: 88.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Port Charlotte, Florida, USA.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Barbara’s husband went to the nursing home where she was staying, shot her to death, and committed suicide.

Case status:
Frank Kavanaugh (Husband), deceased.

Sources:
Port Charlotte murder-suicide shakes nursing home, friends
Florida right-to-die advocate, wife dead in murder-suicide at nursing home

Jack May

No Photo
Name: Jack May.
Died: April 16, 2016.
Age at death: 89.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Lecanto, Florida, USA.
Disability: Wheelchair user.

Details:
Jack’s son shot him in the back as he sat in his wheelchair.

Case status:
James Troy May (Son), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 25 years.

Source:
James May is accused of fatally shooting his 89-year-old father inside their Lecanto home
Florida Offender Search

Maria Branco

Photo of Maria Branco. She is an elderly woman with short white hair, and fair skin. She is wearing glasses and a white blouse, squinting slightly into the sun.Name: Maria Branco.
Died: April 13, 2016.
Age at death: 78.
Cause of death: Sepsis, malnutrition.
Location: Fall River, Massachusetts, USA.
Disability: Elderly disabled; mobility impaired.

Details:
Maria and her three children lived together. She and her two daughters Lucy and Filomena, both intellectually disabled, depended on her third child, a son, to care for them. However, he habitually beat and neglected Maria and her daughters.

When Maria was taken to the hospital with injuries from a severe beating, police arrested her son and went to her house to check on her daughters. They were locked into the house and tried desperately to get out to the police officers; when police got the door open, they found both women neglected and battered but alive.

After four days in the hospital, Maria died from sepsis due to her infected bedsores, complicated by starvation and injuries from beatings. Her daughters survived, but are reported to be “in poor condition” as of July 2016.

Case status:
Antonio M. Branco (Son), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 8-10 years in prison.

Source:
Man convicted in neglect death of his mother sues Fall River Police
DA: Man Murders Mother, Abuses Disabled Sisters
Fall River man accused of murdering mother, abusing disabled sisters pleads not guilty, held without bail
Fall River man charged with murdering his mother, assaulting his disabled sisters
Fall River man indicted in elder abuse case
Fall River man to face ‘disturbing’ charges in murder of his mother
Fall River man sentenced for letting his mother die painful death