Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Death due to the actions of another human being.
Name: Lucas Ruiz.
Died: January 24, 2014.
Age at death: 17 months.
Cause of death: Alcohol poisoning.
Location: Belle Chasse, Louisiana, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome.
Details:
Lucas’s mother poisoned him with hand sanitizer injected into his feeding tube.
Case status:
Erika Wigstrom (Mother), charged with first-degree murder, pleaded guilty, sentenced to 40 years.
Source:
Belle Chasse mom booked with fatal poisoning of her 17-month-old son
Name: Frances Dresser.
Died: January 22, 2014.
Age at death: 86.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Carson City, Nevada, USA.
Disability: Paralysis (from fall).
Details:
Frances fell at home and doctors said she would be paralyzed and need to move to a nursing home. Her husband went home, bought a gun, returned to the hospital and shot her in the chest. She died three days later.
Frances Dresser was a great-grandmother who loved music and nature.
Case status:
William Lyle Dresser (Husband), charged with murder; charges dropped by a judge who said, “William Dresser killed his wife, but he is not a murderer”.
Source:
‘No evil in his act’: DA seeks to drop mercy killing murder charge
Murder charge dismissed against William Dresser
Name: Lena “Elaine” Smith.
Died: January 2, 2014.
Age at death: 45.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Schizophrenia.
Details:
When Lena’s boyfriend stabbed her to death, he claimed he had done it in self-defense because she had schizophrenia and was violent. Lena did have schizophrenia–but she had been stabbed six times in the back, and the jury didn’t buy his self-defense claim.
Case status:
Ulysses Jay James (Ex-boyfriend), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 31 years.
Source:
Man who stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death in Norfolk gets 31 years
Police make arrest in stabbing death of Norfolk mother
Norfolk man stabbed his girlfriend in self-defense, lawyer argues as murder trial opens
Name: Michael Shane Jones.
Died: January 1, 2014.
Age at death: 48.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Stockton, California, USA.
Disability: Diabetes, chronic pain, mobility impaired.
Details:
Michael’s roommate stabbed him to death. Together with Michael’s girlfriend, he dismembered and tried to burn the body. To police, they claimed that it had been a mercy killing.
Case status:
Bryan Scott Cook (Caregiver, roommate), convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 15 years to life
Valentina Paz (Girlfriend), pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact, sentenced to 2 years.
Source:
Suspect in dismemberment homicide to go to trial
Dismemberment called ‘sympathy killing’
Calif. couple accused of murder, dismemberment of roommate
Victim of bizarre Stockton killing identified
Man sentenced for murder, burning body in Groveland
Inmate suspected in stabbing death
Girlfriend of murdered man sentenced to two years in prison
Michael Shane Jones Allegedly Killed And Dismembered By California Roommates
Name: David Herrera Jr.
Died: December 19, 2013.
Age at death: 22.
Cause of death: Fire.
Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
David’s sister and her friend burned down the house with David and his father in it; they wanted the insurance money. David died; his father was seriously injured but recovered.
Case status:
Miranda Herrera (Sister), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 50 years.
Sari Rodriguez, pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 60 years.
Source:
Autism Memorial: David Herrera, Jr.
San Antonio woman gets 50 year sentence for fatal house fire
Woman gets 100-year prison term for setting fire that killed brother, injured father
Name: Dameian “Luke” Gulley.
Died: November 18, 2013.
Age at death: 14.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Visalia, California, USA.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Luke’s stepfather strangled him.
His obituary says that he often “volunteered his time at a nursing home in Tulare, CA where he would call out Bingo and paint fingernails.”
Case status:
Miguel Angel Villegas Pacheco (Stepfather), convicted of murder, sentenced to 25 years to life.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Dameian “Luke” Gulley
Tulare County judge sentences Visalia man to 25 years to life for murder of stepson
Dameian Gulley: Obituary
Stepfather arrested in Gulley’s death
‘We knew we had foul play’
Visalia step-father arrested for the murder of 14-year-old Damiean “Luke” Gulley
Stepfather Left Voice Mail Asking for Help
Central California man arrested in stepson’s death
Name: Shirley Neumann.
Died: October 31, 2013.
Age at death: 77.
Cause of death: Fall.
Location: Fenton, Missouri, USA.
Disability: Dementia.
Details:
Shirley Neumann’s death was initially thought to be an accident. Her daughter, who visited her at her retirement home, was the last person to see her alive; when her daughter left, she told staff that Shirley would not be down for dinner. In the morning, Shirley was found dead beneath her broken fourth-floor balcony, having fallen to her death. Her daughter was the beneficiary of her $500,000 life insurance policy.
Shirley’s death was initially ruled an accident, but her daughter is under investigation for two other murders, also of disabled people: Betsy Faria, her friend, whose death was disguised as a suicide and for which Shirley’s daughter is charged with murder; and Lewis Gumpenberger, her ex-boyfriend, in whose shooting death Shirley’s daughter pleaded no contest to murder.
Investigators tested the railing and found that someone of Shirley’s weight should not have been able to break the railing by falling into it. Shirley Neumann’s manner of death has been officially changed from “accidental” to “undetermined”.
Case status:
Pamela Hupp (Daughter); sentenced to life without parole for the murder of Lewis Gumpenberger; charged with the murder of Betsy Faria. The investigation into Shirley’s death was not re-opened.
Source:
‘It’s puzzling’: Pam Hupp waives preliminary hearing in murder trial
In ‘The Thing About Pam,’ We Learn Pam Hupp Is a Killer — Did She Also Murder Her Own Mother?
Shirley Neumann Murder: How Did Pam Hupp’s Mom Die? Who Killed Her?
The Real Truth about Pam Hupp: 3 deaths, 2 questionable investigations, 1 woman at the center
Pam Hupp
In her own words: Pam Hupp on her mother`s fatal fall
Woman, 77, dies after falling from third-floor balcony of Fenton-area retirement home
Shirley Neumann Obituary
Police seek new information on death of Pamela Hupp’s mother
Police reviewing death of Pamela Hupp’s mother
Police reviewing death of Pamela Hupp’s mother
Loved ones of man killed by Pamela Hupp speak out
Pam Hupp could still be collecting government disability checks in jail
Medical examiner changes manner of death for Pamela Hupp’s mother
Mom’s Death Not to Be Discussed at Pamela Hupp’s Trial
Name: Steven Copo-Horton.
Died: October 28, 2013.
Age at death: 18.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Emerton, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Angelman syndrome.
Details:
Steven drowned in the bathtub. Prosecutors say he could not have gotten into the bathtub on his own.
“All [Steven] wanted to do was kiss and cuddle everyone,” his mother remembers.
Case status:
Charbel Younes (Stepfather), charged with murder. After being released on bail, he broke his wife’s arm and shot at his other stepson. Court subsequently denied bail. Acquitted.
Source:
Stepdad acquitted of murder at retrial
Drowned teen couldn’t have got in bath
Charles Younes trial: Man denies murder of disabled stepson in bathtub
Tradie charged with drowning murder of his disabled teenager stepson
Stepfather charged over teen’s bathtub death
‘Concerning history of violence’: Couple split one week before teen found dead in bath
Man charged with murder over 2013 bathtub drowning of teen
Man who drowned disabled stepson ‘broke ex-wife’s arm and shot a gun’
Name: Martin Meffert.
Died: October 24, 2013 (Body found); Missing February 8, 2005.
Age at death: 23.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Terownie, South Australia, Australia.
Disability: Unspecified.
Details:
23-year-old Martin, grieving the death of his mother, arranged to stay with an aunt and some cousins. Then he disappeared.
Eight years later, one of his cousins, who had been collecting Martin’s disability payments, pulled out Martin’s skull and showed it to a friend. This was not reported until a firearms raid found Martin’s bones in plain view in the fireplace of his home. His cousin admitted to shooting Martin in the head and stealing his disability pension for ten years.
Martin loved Bruce Springsteen’s music. He was proud uncle to a baby nephew and awaiting a second nephew when he died.
Case status:
Christopher Travis Scott (Cousin), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to life.
Source:
Teen who shot Martin Meffert dead then claimed his Centrelink payments
Martin Meffert murder: Police conduct doorknocks in Terowie, SA
Bones-in-fireplace murder: Sister of Martin Meffert wants to end her family’s torment and get justice
No one had spoken to Martin for years. Then police made a gruesome discovery.
Case against accused cold case murderer labelled ‘weak’
Cold case murder accused remanded in custody
Accused killer pulled skull out of box ‘like a show-and-tell’, court told
Accused Terowie murderer admits to killing relative whose bones were found in fireplace
Killer’s confession leads police to find remains of SA murder victim
Bones of murdered man found at Terowie property
Property searched to find murdered man’s remains
Name: Amoe Seline Stevens.
Died: October 18, 2013.
Age at death: 64.
Cause of death: Internal injuries.
Location: Neasden, London, UK.
Disability: Mobility/speech impairment after stroke.
Details:
Amoe was raped and murdered by her son-in-law.
Case status:
Mohammed Yassin Yusuf (Son-in-law), convicted of murder, sentenced to 25 years to life.
Source:
Remorseless killer jailed for causing an ‘agonising death’
Neasden stroke victim murdered by son-in-law’s violent sex assault
Man who murdered mother-in-law in sexual assault so violent she bled to death jailed for life
Mohammed Yassin Yusuf jailed for killing mother-in-law Amoe Seline Stevens in sexual assault
Man jailed for ‘horrifying’ murder by sexual assault on mother-in-law