Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Age 60+
Name: Mary Esther Sawyer.
Died: June 21, 2004.
Age at death: 79.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Latrobe, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Dementia.
Details:
Mary’s daughter checked her out of her nursing home, took her home, drugged her, and suffocated her with a pillow.
Case status:
Rita Ann Sawyer (Daughter), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison.
Source:
U.S. court rejects plea for new trial by midstate doctor convicted of killing mom
Name: Sophie Jaworski.
Died: May 8, 2004.
Age at death: 83.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease, colon cancer.
Details:
Sophie was recovering in the hospital after surgery when her husband stabbed her to death.
Sophie enjoyed bowling, baking, shopping, and spending time with her family, who called her “Baba”.
Case Status:
Tony Jaworski (Husband), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to three years probation.
Sources:
Senior sentenced for wife’s death, lawyer calls it ‘mercy killing’
JAWORSKI SOPHIE – Obituaries – Winnipeg Free Press Passages
Name: Ida Heginbotham.
Died: April 1, 2004.
Age at death: 87.
Cause of death: Blood loss.
Location: Preesall, Lancashire, England, UK.
Disability: Dementia, arthritis, hip replacements.
Details:
Ida’s husband cut her throat because he didn’t want her to be transferred to a dementia ward.
She was “a keen horsewoman” and the mother of six children.
Case status:
Bernard Heginbotham (Husband), pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility; given a 12-month community rehabilitation order and released.
Source:
Wheelchair-bound pensioner, 96, becomes one of UK’s oldest murder suspects
100-year-old cut his ailing wife’s throat in ‘act Husband, 100, spared jail for ‘act of love’ killing
Freedom for 100-year-old who killed his wife
BRITAIN’S OLDEST KILLER DIES AGE 102
Name: Luzie Wilson.
Died: February 22, 2003.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Port Orange, Florida, USA.
Disability: Stroke, health problems.
Details:
Luzie’s husband shot her dead, then killed himself.
Case status:
James Wilson (Husband), deceased.
Source:
Murder-suicides among elderly driven by illness, depression
Caregivers who kill their spouses share traits, experts say
Name: Clothilde D’Auteuil.
Died: July 21, 2002.
Age at death: 78.
Cause of death: Murder.
Location: Rimouski, Quebec, Canada.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.
Details:
Clothilde lived at a nursing home and her son visited her. When the nursing home told him that he needed to stop visiting her because she became agitated when he visited, he went to the nursing home, strangled her to death, and beat up several aides with a metal bar.
She was the widow of a doctor who had died two years before, and had three sons and three grandsons.
Case status:
Alain Quimper (Son), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 14 years to life.
Source:
History of euthanasia in Canada
Supreme Court of Canada Bulletin of Proceedings
Alfred QUIMPER
Condamné pour le meurtre de sa mère malade – Quimper veut un nouveau procès
Un homme de 46 ans est accusé du meurtre de sa mère
Name: Olga Law.
Died: March 6, 2002.
Age at death: 73.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Thames, New Zealand.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.
Details:
Olga’s husband drugged her with sleeping pills, bludgeoned her with a hammer, and then smothered her.
Case status:
Rex Arthur Law (Husband), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 18 months in prison, with the possibility of applying for home confinement.
Source:
Wife killer sealed his deed with a kiss
The Queen v Rex Arthur Law
‘Honourable man’ faces 9 months’ jail
Name: Irene Agnes Ritchie.
Died: February 14, 2002.
Age at death: 87.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Mount Ousley, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Heart disease, blindness; frail elder.
Details:
Irene was smothered by her son, who initially hid her body and reported her missing. Once arrested by suspicious authorities, he confessed to the crime and told them where to find her body.
At trial, the judge commented that he did not believe the murder had been a mercy killing, and that Irene’s son simply “did not like living with an elderly woman in constant pain”.
Case Status:
Geoffrey Robert Ritchie (Adopted son), convicted of murder, sentenced to 11 years 9 months to 15 years.
Sources:
R v Ritchie [2003] NSWSC 864 (19 September 2003)
15 years jail for son who suffocated terminally ill mother
Name: Shirley Harrison.
Died: December 31, 2001.
Age at death: 74.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Stroke.
Details:
Shirley was hospitalized after a recent stroke; her husband shot her as she lay in the hospital bed.
Case status:
Thomas Harrison (Husband), pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, sentenced to 20 years.
Source:
From ‘mercy killing’ to ‘domestic violence’: Shirley Harrison, the Chicago Media and Not Dead Yet
Man, 77, sentenced for killing his wife
Name: Pamela King.
Died: October 10, 2001.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Campbell, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Disability: Arthritis, mobility impaired.
Details:
Pamela was found dead in her home, and her husband was arrested on suspicion of having beaten her to death with an iron bar. Family told police about a long history of controlling and abusive behavior by her husband. When interviewed, her husband said he had “had an argument” with her because she wanted to leave him.
When she died, Pamela had a suitcase packed and hidden in her closet, implying she was planning to escape her abusive husband.
Case Status:
Maurice Dixon King (Husband), charged with murder. Attempted suicide; declared unfit for trial and given a hearing before a judge, who declared him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and issued a mental health order of 12 years 10 months. Died by suicide while in detention.
Sources:
R v King
Court told murderer had spoken of suicide
Daughters remember Pamela King murdered by her husband in Campbell in 2001
Name: Eva Visco.
Died: December 26, 2000.
Age at death: 74.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Deltona, Florida, USA.
Disability: Chronic illness; frail elder.
Details:
Eva was shot in the head by her husband.
Case status:
Leo Visco (Husband), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 5 years suspended and 10 years probation.
Source:
DELTONA MAN, 81, AVOIDS PRISON IN ILL WIFE’S KILLING
Florida man pleads guilty in suicide-pact slaying
Visco Describes Killing Wife
Man Enters Plea in Killing of Wife
Eva Visco (1926 – 2000)