Type: Homicide – Page 82 – Disability Day of Mourning

Gregory Stewart

No Photo Name: Gregory Ross Stewart.
Died: August 9, 2006.
Age at death: 52.
Cause of death: Strangulation.
Location: Summerholm, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Leg amputee.

Details:
Gregory lived with his former partner, with whom he had broken up; but they were still living together until a property dispute could be resolved. Neighbors say his partner had a history of being violent towards him, with his decreased mobility making him an easier target. Gregory’s body was found in his living room; his prosthetic leg had been removed and he had been strangled.

Case Status:
Diana Fae Hughes (Partner), convicted of murder, sentenced to life.

Sources:
R v Hughes [2012] QCA 208 (14 August 2012)
Macabre slideshow of murder
Killer grandma has appeal rejected

Micki Kanesaki

Name: Micki Kanesaki.
Died: May 28, 2006.
Age at death: 52.
Cause of death: Asphyxia or drowning.
Location: Island Escape (Cruise ship), Mediterranean Sea.
Disability: Depression, severe arthritis.

Details:
Right after amending their will, Micki’s husband took her on a cruise. As they stood on the balcony of their cabin, he strangled her and threw her body into the water.

Micki was a retired paralegal who lived in Ladera Ranch, California.

Case status:
Lonnie Loren Kocontes (Husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to life without parole.

Source:
O.C. Lawyer Gets Life Sentence For Killing Ex-Wife On Cruise
‘Almost Got Away With the Perfect Crime’: Attorney Gets Life in Prison for Ex-Wife’s Cruise Ship Murder
Lonnie Kocontes Accused Cruise Ship Murder Ex-wife Micki Kanesaki Registered Florida Voter

Linda Blaauw

No Photo Name: Linda Edith Blaauw.
Died: May 23, 2006.
Age at death: 54.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Bayswater, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Disability: Paranoid schizophrenia; cancer survivor.

Details:
The day before her death, Linda’s psychologist told her that he could not guarantee a cure, and that it was possible for her mental illness to relapse. The next morning, as Linda lay sleeping, her husband stabbed her in the neck with a kitchen knife, killing her.

Case Status:
Donovan Alexander Blaauw (Husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to 7-11 years.

Sources:
R v Blaauw [2008] VSC 129 (24 April 2008)

Christopher DeGroot

No Photo Name: Christopher Aire DeGroot.
Died: May 19, 2006.
Age at death: 19.
Cause of death: Fire.
Location: Albany, Oregon, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Christopher’s parents locked him in his room and bolted it with a deadbolt. Then they set a fire in their home and left Christopher to burn to death.

Case status:
Nicolaas DeGroot (Father), pleaded no contest to criminally negligent homicide, sentenced to 6 months in jail.
Agnes DeGroot (Mother), pleaded no contest to criminally negligent homicide, sentenced to 6 months in jail.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Christopher DeGroot
Autistic Teen Struggled To Get Out Of Blazing Apartment
Couple Charged with Setting Fire to Kill Autistic Teen Son
Couple sentenced in fire death of autistic son

Robert McClancy

Name: Robert McClancy.
Died: May 15, 2006.
Age at death: 56.
Cause of death: Antidepressant overdose.
Location: Monroe, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: PTSD.

Details:
Robert’s wife and her lover poisoned him with the medication he’d been prescribed for PTSD and staged it as a suicide. Then they married and collected his veteran’s pension.
Photo of a gravestone. It reads: Robert J McClancy. Corporal, US Marine Corps. Vietnam. Oct. 20, 1949. May 15, 2006. "Irish" is Guarding Heaven."
Robert was a Vietnam war veteran who still met regularly with his military friends.

Case status:
Martha Kaczmarczyk (Wife), convicted of murder, sentenced to 50 years.
Chuck Kaczmarczyk, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, sentenced to 25 years.

Source:
Robert McClancy: Veteran Was Murdered By His Wife in ‘Most Evil Crime’
Fake 9/11 First Responder Killed Her Husband for His Real VA Check
‘It Just Didn’t Add Up’: Woman’s Dark Side Comes To Light After Her Veteran Husband Is Found Dead
Charles Kaczmarczyk, 59, pleads guilty to 2006 murder

Katherine McCarron

Name: Katherine “Katie” McCarron Photo of Katie McCarron, a toddler girl with blond hair and pale skin, wearing a blue summer dresss, sitting on the carpet and playing with a Teletubby toy. .
Died: May 13, 2006.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Morton, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Katie’s mother suffocated her with a plastic bag because she would not take a nap, saying that she had done it “to end [Katie’s] pain”.

Case status:
Karen McCarron (Mother); convicted of first degree murder; sentenced to 36 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Katie McCarron
Karen McCarron
“Katie McCarron”, CCDI
“Board Suspends Dr. McCarron’s License Indefinitely”
“Grandfather says Murder had nothing to do with Autism”
Katie McCarron, Charles-Antoine Blais, real children, real people.

Graeme Wylie

Name: Graeme Wylie.
Died: March 22, 2006.
Age at death: 71.
Cause of death: Barbiturate poisoning.
Location: Cammeray, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
Graeme had Alzheimer’s disease. His wife took him to Switzerland, hoping to have him euthanized; but the Swiss doctors told her that Graeme’s dementia was too severe for him to be able to consent to such a thing, and refused her. At the time, Graeme had moderate-to-severe dementia and was unable to remember things like how many children he had or what his birthday was.

Still intent on her husband’s death, Graeme’s wife asked a friend to travel to Mexico and buy her a high dose of a veterinary sedative. She administered this drug to Graeme, killing him.

Graeme’s daughters told reporters that Graeme had never said anything about suicide to them, and pointed out that his wife stood to inherit a large amount in his will when he died.

Graeme was a retired airline pilot.

Case Status:
Shirley Justins (Wife), found guilty of manslaughter, sentenced to 22-30 months of weekend detention.
Caren Jenning (Family friend), found guilty of being an accessory to manslaughter, died before sentencing.

Sources:
Dr Death chose life for Graeme
Woman gave Alzheimer’s husband fatal dose of drugs after Swiss authorities refused legal euthanasia
The death of Graeme Wylie
Graeme Wylie died a lonely death, says daughter.
Euthansia killer Shirley Justin escapes jail

Hevin Jenkins

Photo of Hevin Jenkins, a baby looking at the camera over the bottle he is holding and sucking on. Name: Hevin Dakota James Lee Jenkins.
Died: December 15, 2005.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Drowned.
Location: Hurricane, West Virginia, USA.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Hevin was drowned by his aunt, and her boyfriend disposed of his body, which has never been found.

Case status:
Tonya Sloan (Aunt), second-degree murder, sentenced to 40 years.
Anthony Milam (Aunt’s boyfriend), accessory after the fact, sentenced to 1 year in prison.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Hevin Jenkins
Hevin Dakota James Lee Jenkins
Woman charged in her autistic nephew’s death

Jason Ritzert

Photo of Jason Ritzert, an man wearing a headband and casual clothes and sitting on a dirt bike. He has a tattoo on his right arm. Name: Jason Ritzert.
Died: November 10, 2005.
Age at death: 30.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Jason’s roommates, who often abused him under the pretext of “punishing” him, set him on fire and then left his severe burns untreated for days before strangling him.

Case status:
Timothy Caldwell, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison.
Melissa Adams, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, sentenced to 30-60 years.
Russell Lee Hilliard, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, sentenced to 20-40 years.

Source:
Butler pair held in ‘bizarre’ killing of roommate

Mary Mount

Name: Mary Mount.
Died: October 19, 2005 (Body found; died around January 4, 2004).
Age at death: 28.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: Cape Coral, Florida, USA.
Disability: Russell Silver Syndrome.

Details:
Mary left home to stay in a hotel room with her boyfriend. Sometime during that time, she disappeared. Her boyfriend was questioned; initially, he said that she had taken her car and left, then that she had died of natural causes and he had buried her body. Years later, new evidence led to murder charges, and he admitted to smothering Mary to death.

Case Status:
Terry Daniel McDonald (Boyfriend), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 25 years.

Sources:
Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for 2004 killing of Lee County woman
Terry McDonald charged with murder of Mary Mount, State Attorney’s Office says
Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for 2004 killing of Lee County woman
El Paso Police Department Voluntary Statement
Family says suspect has gotten away with murder for 14 years