Type: Homicide – Page 91 – Disability Day of Mourning

Tammy Proulx

No Photo Name: Tammy Proulx.
Died: November 28, 1997.
Age at death: 34.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Franktown, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Depression.

Details:
Tammy’s boyfriend shot her, and claimed to the judge that she had wanted to die because she had depression. In reality, he shot her and dumped her body along the side of the road.

Tammy was the mother of two girls, aged six and fourteen when she died.

Case status:
Dennis Mitchell Whalen (Boyfriend), pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Source:
Remembering the names of the women carved in stone at Ottawa’s Women’s Monument
1997 Homicide Stats – western Quebec/eastern Ontario

Name: Dominic McCarthy.
Died: February 9, 1997.
Age at death: 34.
Cause of death: Insulin overdose.
Location: Stonely, Cambridgeshire, England, UK.
Disability: Paraplegic, from motorcycle accident.

Details:
Dominic was given a massive overdose of insulin by his wife; then when he was hospitalized in a coma, she tampered with his IV. He died without ever waking.

Case status:
Deborah Winzar (Wife), convicted of murder, sentenced to 15 years to life; released by 2017.

Source:
Nurse jailed for murdering Peterborough husband loses legal bid to overturn conviction
Life for nurse who killed disabled husband
Is this nurse a killer?
“No one else killed your husband, so you must have done” (2000)
REPORT: A marriage made in hell
Killer nurse will serve 15 years
Nurse convicted of murdering husband battles to clear her name
New evidence casts doubt on murder conviction of nurse locked up for killing husband
Nurse jailed for injecting husband with insulin could have murder conviction quashed, court hears

Casey Albury

Black and white photo of a teenage girl with fair skin and shaggy hair cut into bangs; her expression looks puzzled. Name: Casey Janine Huinui Albury.
Died: 1997.
Age at death: 17.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Feilding, New Zealand.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Casey was killed by her mother, who initially took her to a bridge in the hopes that Casey would climb onto it and fall off. When Casey refused, she took her daughter into an alley and strangled her.

Casey liked painting and composing music.

Case status:
Janine Albury-Thomson (Mother), convicted of manslaughter; sentenced to four years; served 15 months.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Casey Albury
Tragic end to life of beauty and misery
Woman who killed autistic daughter jailed for church fire

Charles-Antoine Blais

No Photo Name: Charles-Antoine Blais.
Died: November 6, 1996.
Age at death: 6.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Montreal, Canada.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Charles-Antoine was drowned by his mother in her bathtub.

Case status:
Danielle Blais (Mother). Pled guilty to manslaughter, given a 23-month suspended sentence and offered a job at the Autism Society of Montreal. No jail time.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Charles-Antoine Blais
Solomon, A. (2014). Far from the tree: Parents, children and the search for identity. Scribner Classics.
Blais decision brings new concern to the disabled
People with Disabilities Outraged by Murders
History of euthanasia in Canada
Tracy Latimer is dead because her father is a murderer

Gary Henderson

No Photo Name: Gary Henderson.
Died: August 28, 1996.
Age at death: 35.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury, asphyxia, possibly drowning.
Location: Lansvale, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Mobility impaired, intellectual disability.

Details:
Gary lived in a caravan with a couple who held his bank card and handled his finances; they were also intellectually disabled, but not as vulnerable as Gary. They were known to dislike him, and had been harassing him over his lack of hygiene and accusing him, sans evidence, of being a pedophile. When a friend of the family visited and beat Gary severely, no one called for help. Gary died either from the beating, from his injuries due to neglect, or from drowning when he was dumped at a boat dock.

Case Status:
Susan Hall (Household member), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, given suspended sentence.
Colin Simpson (Acquaintance), pleaded guilty to maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm, sentenced to time served.
Colin Hanslow (Household member), pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to the infliction of grievous bodily harm, released on good behavior bond.

Sources:
The Uncounted
Regina v Hall [1999] NSWSC 738 (23 July 1999)

Katie Baker

No Photo Name: Katie Lynn Baker.
Died: May 28, 1996.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: British Columbia, Canada.
Disability: Rett syndrome.

Details:
Katie’s mother deliberately starved her to death because she believed that Katie did not want to live.

Case status:
Cheryl Baker (Mother). Never charged.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Katie Lynn Baker
Crown Will Not Lay Charges in Death of Katie Lynn Baker
People with Disabilities Outraged by Murders
Remembering…
History of euthanasia in Canada Tracy Latimer is dead because her father is a murderer

Scott Dell

Name: Scott Dell.
Died: December 28, 1995.
Age at death: 44.
Cause of death: Antifreeze poisoning.
Location: Killaloe, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Cancer of the mouth/throat; in remission.

Details:
When Scott Dell was found dead, poisoned with antifreeze, his wife tried to call it a suicide. Scott was depressed, she claimed, because he was afraid of his cancer coming back. But her story fell apart. Witnesses testified that Scott had wanted to live and had hope for his future. The family cat had died from antifreeze poisoning. And Scott’s wife was the only person who could have given him the antifreeze-tainted wine that killed him.

Case status:
Cherrylle Dell (Wife; estranged), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to 25 years to life.

Source:
How sex, lies and antifreeze convicted the `Angel’ of death, Cherrylle Dell

Regina Savage

No Photo Name: Regina Savage.
Died: 1995.
Age at death: Elder.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Valley Cottage, New York, USA.
Disability: Arthritis, curved spine, cancer.

Details:
Regina was sitting in her wheelchair when her husband came up behind her and shot her in the back with a shotgun, killing her.

Case status:
Richard Savage (Husband), pleaded guilty, sentenced to 14 days in jail plus 28 days time served.

Source:
Mercy killings: After Westchester Medical Center deaths, a look at similar deaths
What is mercy killing? Does Richard DeLucia’s murder-suicide qualify?

Sophie Préfaut

No Photo Name: Sophie Préfaut.
Died: August 7, 1994.
Age at death: 23.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: Montpellier, France.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Sophie’s mother drugged her, then smothered her to death. She said that she had done it because Sophie did not want to go back to the hospital, where she had been subjected to neuroleptics and electroshock.

Sophie was an intelligent young woman with a good sense of humor, who could solve cube roots in her head.

Case Status:
Jeanne-Marie Préfaut (Mother), convicted of premeditated voluntary homicide, sentenced to 5 years; sentence suspended.

Sources:
Sanction de principe pour la mère meurtrière de sa fille autiste. Les jurés de la cour d’assises de l’Héraut ont condamné hier Jeanne-Marie Préfaut, 51 ans, à cinq ans de prison avec sursis pour avoir tué le 7 août 1994 sa fille Sophie, 23 ans, autiste, à qui elle avait promis qu’elle ne serait plus jamais hospitalisée. Elle encourait une peine de prison à perpétuité.

Michael Messenger

No Photo Name: Michael Messenger.
Died: February 8, 1994.
Age at death: Newborn.
Cause of death: Withdrawal of life support.
Location: Lansing, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Prematurity with a risk of disability.

Details:
When Michael was born at 25 weeks gestation, he had a roughly 50% chance of survival. However, when their doctor told Michael’s parents that if he survived, he would probably be disabled, Michael’s father asked the doctor to leave and shut off the newborn’s ventilator, killing him.

Case status:
Gregory Messenger (Father); tried for manslaughter and admitted to disconnecting Michael’s life support; acquitted.

Source:
The Messenger Case: Summary and Analysis