Age: Elder – Page 50 – Disability Day of Mourning

Sophie Kostek

No Photo Name: Sophie Kostek.
Died: August 7, 2014.
Age at death: 88.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Somerset, Maryland, USA.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
Sophie’s son beat her to death.

She enjoyed reading and caring for her home.

Case status:
Michael Kostek (Son), pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and permitting injury to an elder/disabled person, sentenced to 8-10 years.

Source:
Somerset man sentenced in mother’s killing | WJAR
Sophie (Provocyck) Kostek – Obituary
Somerset man pleads guilty in death of disabled mother
Prosecutors allege Somerset man hit elderly, disabled mother and threw her on bed, where she was found dead
Trial date set for Somerset man accused of killing mother
Trial date scheduled for Somerset man accused in mother’s murder
Boyko Memorial Funeral Home – Sophie (Provocyck) Kostek – Obituary
Somerset man held without bail in killing of mother
Lawyer for Somerset man accused of killing mom asks for medical records
Somerset man charged with killing elderly mother
Somerset man indicted on murder charge in death of elderly mother

No Photo Name: Albert Franklin.
Died: Sometime after July 28, 2014.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Sepsis and malnutrition.
Location: Flint, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Albert had a feeding tube because of an obstruction in his throat, but his caregivers refused to use it, so Albert starved until he weighed only 52 pounds. He was hospitalized in July 2014, in septic shock from untreated bedsores, and died there.

Case status:
Alice Bitters (Girlfriend), ruled not competent to stand trial and institutionalized.
Melissa Bardoni (Girlfriend’s niece), pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, sentenced to 15-30 years.

Source:
Bardoni v. Howard, Case No. 20-11861 | Casetext Search + Citator
Woman pleads guilty to murder in elder abuse case
2 Flint women charged with abusing emaciated man
Caregivers arrested after emaciated man found with infected bed sores in Flint
Girlfriend, niece charged with elder abuse after police find 52 pound man
Woman Pleads Guilty In Flint Elder Abuse Case, Second Woman May Have Been Involved
Woman pleads guilty to murder in elder abuse case

Marcia Clark

Photo of Marcia Clark. She is a thin elderly woman with pale skin and gray hair, wearing glasses and a purple long-sleeved shirt. Name: Marcia Clark.
Died: July 20, 2014.
Age at death: 83.
Cause of death: Starvation and infection.
Location: Taree, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Frail elder; caregiver claimed dementia and Parkinson’s.

Details:
Marcia died of infected bed sores and starvation after being neglected by her daughter.

The death was ruled as having been of “natural causes… the combined effects of severe malnutrition and infection… after a period of being neglected by her carer.”

Case status:
Nardia Clark (Daughter), no charges; went missing, found dead in 2016.

Source:
How the system failed this elderly mother and her daughter who couldn’t cope
Death of Marcia Clark: Coroner finds daughter struggled to care for elderly mother
Findings Marcia Clark.pdf

Cecily Kurtz

No Photo Name: Cecily Kurtz.
Died: July 2, 2014.
Age at death: 79.
Cause of death: Pulmonary embolism.
Location: Didcot, England, UK.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, OCD.

Details:
Cecily was unable to care for her own needs because of her mental illness, but her daughter left her on the couch and did not care for her. Having been neglected for years, she died of a pulmonary embolism in a filthy room, weighing 85 pounds.

Case status:
Emma-Jane Kurtz (Daughter), convicted of willful neglect, sentenced to serve at least half of a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence; sentence overturned when judge determined that the court had not proved that Cecily lacked the ability to make her own decisions.

Source:
Daughter left mum to die in own faeces
Emma-Jane Kurtz jailed after mum is found dead due to neglect
Daughter jailed for leaving mother to die in her own feces
Neglected mum’s body ‘looked like photograph from WW2 concentration camp’
Doctor who cared for ‘neglected’ mother ‘blocked by family’
Daughter cleared of neglect after mum, 79, died in ‘pool of urine and diarrhoea’

Theodore Meyer

Photo of Theodore Meyer, an elderly white man in a suit and black tie, wearing glasses. Name: Theodore Meyer.
Died: June 28, 2014.
Age at death: 91.
Cause of death: Blunt force chest trauma.
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
Disability: Dementia, heart disease.

Details:
Theodore’s son beat him to death with his own cane.

Case status:
Donald Ray Meyer (Son), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 12 years.

Source:
Oklahoma City man gets 12 years in prison for fatal beating of father, 91
Oklahoma City Man Charged With Murder In Father’s Death

Mary Driscoll

No Photo Name: Mary Driscoll.
Died: May 24, 2014.
Age at death: 94.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Brick, New Jersey, USA.
Disability: Dementia, “frail”.

Details:
Mary’s granddaughter came home drunk and angry from a date and took out her anger on her grandmother, beating her badly, leaving her lying on the floor without medical attention for a weekend, and then beating her again.

A friend of her granddaughter’s who saw Mary’s injuries called 911. Mary was taken to the hospital, but she had suffered head injuries that were too severe to survive. She died eight days after the initial beating.

Case status:
Katherine Schubert (Granddaughter), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 5-10 years.

Source:
Mary F. Driscoll Obituary
Granny killer, teacher’s murder on the docket
Woman sentenced for beating grandmother to death
Woman drank Maker’s Mark, beat grandma to death

Barbara Poucher

No Photo Name: Barbara Poucher.
Died: May 23, 2014.
Age at death: 86.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Ormond Beach, Florida, USA.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
Barbara was shot dead in her bed by her husband in a murder-suicide.

Case status:
John Poucher (Husband), deceased.

Source:
Caregivers who kill their spouses share traits, experts say
2 dead in apparent murder-suicide in Ormond Beach
Police: Ormond man, 89, shoots, kills wife with Alzheimer’s, then himself
Double-Killing in Ormond Beach: Not Murder-Suicide, But Mercy and Heroism

Krystyna Waszynski

No Photo Name: Krystyna Waszynski.
Died: December 2013; body found May 14, 2014.
Age at death: 86.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA.
Disability: Elderly disabled, “mostly bedridden”.

Details:
Krystyna Wasynski was strangled to death by her son. He did not report the death for several months, afraid of being charged with murder.

Krystyna was the widow of Julian Waszynski, an Auschwitz survivor who died in 2005. She left behind three grandchildren.

Case status:
John Waszynski (Son), charged with murder; found not guilty by reason of insanity, committed to a mental institution.

Source:
Connecticut man not guilty of mother’s murder by reason of insanity
Court Document: Wethersfield Man Confessed To Killing 86-Year-Old Mom
John Waszynski charged with mother’s murder after her body is found in their home
Man charged with murdering mother, living with body
Waszynski, Julian

Ramona Atkinson

Name: Ramona Atkinson.
Died: April 30, 2014 (Body found).
Age at death: 72.
Cause of death: Abandonment.
Location: Parker, Florida, USA.
Disability: Elderly disabled; wheelchair user.

Details:
Ramona’s son stole her money and her wheelchair and left her to die.

Case status:
Herbert Todd Atkinson (Son), convicted of elder neglect, exploitation, and theft, sentenced to 20 years.

Source:
Police: Man stole disabled mom’s money and left her to die
Inmate Population Information Detail

June Lang

No Photo Name: June Lang.
Died: March 16, 2014.
Age at death: 75.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Blind.

Details:
After June insisted that the couple should move into an assisted living center, her husband shot her to death.

Case status:
Jack Lang (Husband); pleaded guilty to reckless homicide; sentenced to 8 years.

Source:
Police: Man killed wife after 56 years of marriage because she was “nagging” him
Oak Creek man who killed wife of 55 years sentenced to 8 years in prison