Kim and Fletcher Hunt

Sepia-tone portrait photo of a woman and three children, a boy and two girls. They are smiling at the camera.

Name: Kim Hunt.
Died: September 9, 2014.
Age at death: 41.
Disability: Traumatic brain injury (from car accident), causing hemiplegia and personality changes.

Name: Fletcher Hunt.
Age at death: 10.
Disability: ADHD.

Died: September 9, 2014.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Lockhart, New South Wales, Australia.

Other victims: Mia (8 years) and Phoebe (6 years).

Details:
Kim’s husband shot her and her three children before committing suicide.

Before her car accident, Kim had been an intensive-care nurse. Now unable to do the physical work of nursing, Kim was planning to return to work as a nursing administrator instead.

Fletcher liked Australian rules football and riding his motorbike.

Case status:
Geoff Hunt (Husband, father), deceased.

Source:
‘He may have simply just snapped’: Disability worker breaks down as she describes Kim Hunt’s violent rages after a car crash left her with brain injuries before her husband shot his family dead
Hunt family inquest findings

Joan, Francis, and Mary Stack

No Photo
Name: Joan Stack.
Age at death: 82.
Disability: Terminal cancer, arthritis.

Name: Mary Stack.
Age at death: 57.
Disability: Autism.

Name: Francis “Frankie” Stack Jr.
Age at death: 48.
Disability: Autism; sciatica.

Died: August 30, 2014.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Details:
Joan Stack and her children, Mary and Francis Jr., were shot by her husband, their father, in a murder-suicide.

Joan Stack was a deeply religious Catholic homemaker known for keeping the house tidy and making dinner every night.

Frankie and Mary lived in group homes. Frankie was non-verbal, but Mary could say a few words.

Mary was a fan of action movies, and liked to look at magazines, especially magazines with photos of babies in them.

Case status:
Francis Stack Sr (Father, husband), deceased.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Mary Stack and Francis Stack Jr.
Four Dead In Elmhurst Murder-Suicide
Disabled children killed in Elmhurst murder-suicide
Elmhurst couple in murder-suicide were doting parents: neighbors
Four Bodies in Elmhurst

Samantha Marcus

Black and white school photo of Samantha Marcus, a girl with light skin and long, dark hair, smiling for the camera.Name: Samantha Marcus.
Died: June 8, 2014.
Age at death: 17.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Waukegan, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Muscular dystrophy.

Details:
Samantha and her mother, Sun Marcus, were both strangled to death by her father.

Samantha’s favorite subject in school was graphic arts. She played video games in her free time, and had two dogs named Snickers and Penny.

Case status:
Anthony Marcus (Father), pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, sentenced to 45 years.

Source:
Waukegan Man Charged With Killing Wife, Disabled Daughter
SAMANTHA MARCUS Obituary (1997 – 2014)

Olivia, Ben, and Max Clarence

No Photo
Photo of a small boy with fair hair and pale skin, giggling and waving.
Photo of a small boy with fair hair and pale skin, smiling broadly.

Name: Olivia Clarence.
Age at death: 4.

Name: Ben Clarence.
Age at death: 3.

Name: Max Clarence.
Age at death: 3.

Died: April 22, 2014.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: New Malden, London, UK.
Disability: Spinal muscular atrophy type 2.

Details:
When twins Ben and Max were babies, their mother had requested DNR orders on them and Olivia; later on there were allegations that she had been tampering with their medical equipment, neglecting, and emotionally abusing her children. These allegations were dropped.

Oliva, Ben, and Max were all smothered by their mother when Olivia was four and Ben and Max were three years old.

Case status:
Tania Clarence (mother) pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility, and was hospitalized.

Source:
Woman smothered disabled twin sons before killing their sister, court hears
Was mum who smothered disabled kids ignored by social services because she was middle class?

Daniel and Luke Schlemmer

Photo of Daniel Schlemmer, a young boy wearing glasses and a navy T-shirt with a name tag on it. He has short blond hair and fair skin.
Daniel Schlemmer

Name: Daniel Schlemmer.
Died: April 5, 2014.
Age at death: 6.

Name: Luke Schlemmer.
Died: April 1, 2014.
Age at death: 3.

Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: McCandless, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: None; mother believed they were autistic.

Photo of Luke Schlemmer, a toddler boy with fair skin and blond hair. He is sticking his tongue out and smiling.
Luke Schlemmer

Details:
Brothers Daniel and Luke were drowned in the bathtub by their mother, because she was convinced they were autistic and would be “better off in heaven”. Luke died right away; Daniel lingered on life support for a few days.

A year before, she had tried to kill them by tying them up with twine and running over them with her car several times trying to “end their suffering”. They were hospitalized with broken bones, but their mother claimed it had been an accident and no action was taken. A year later, the boys were dead.

Case status:
Laurel Michelle Schlemmer (Mother), plead guilty to third-degree murder, sentenced to 30-80 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Daniel and Luke Schlemmer
Psychiatrists say mom knew she was drowning kids
Tub-drowning suspect said she drove over her sons repeatedly a year earlier
Ability to premeditate argued with McCandless mom who drowned sons
Psychiatrists say McCandless mom is mentally ill, but knew she was killing her kids
Psychiatrists say mom understood she was killing kids in tub
Pressure drove ‘ideal, Christian’ mom to drown kids: witness
Psychiatrists testify in McCandless woman’s drowning trial
Husband: Tub drowning suspect said she drove over their sons
Laurel Schlemmer, Pa. mom, found guilty but mentally ill in child bathtub drownings
McCandless mother found guilty of drowning her two sons
North Hills mom found guilty of murdering 2 young sons
A mother’s belief her sons had disabilities led to their drowning deaths
Mother gets 30 to 80 years in sons’ bathtub drownings
Monster mum hearing ‘crazy voices’ drowned her two sons in the bath because she wrongly believed they had autism… now she’s jailed for 80 years
Monster mum drowned sons aged 3 and 6 in bathtub wrongly believing they had autism
McCandless woman who drowned two sons sentenced to 30 to 80 years in prison
Mom Sentenced For Drowning 2 Young Sons In Bathtub To Be A Better Mother To Other Son

Jonathan Samuel

No PhotoName: Jonathan Samuel.
Died: March 24, 2014.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome, autism.

Details:
Jonathan’s brother shot him with a shotgun, then killed him with a knife and a machete. He also killed Jonathan’s father, Eldon Samuel Jr.

Jonathan’s brother claimed that it was Jonathan’s autism that caused their father to become addicted to painkillers and hit him, and that that was why he killed his father and brother.

Case status:
Eldon Gale Samuel III (Brother); convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree murder, sentenced to 20 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Jonathan Samuel
Teen confesses to killing family using a machete, guns and knife
Judge in family deaths case says suspect, 14, cited brother’s autism
Coeur D’alene Double Killing Leaves Family Grieving
Jury hears more about brother who was killed
Idaho teen sentenced 20 years in deaths of father, brother

Bertha Anderson and Lisa Nave

Portrait photos of Bertha Anderson and Lisa Nave. They are both light-skinned, light-haired women.Name: Bertha Maxine Anderson.
Age at death: 68.
Disability: “Breast cancer survivor, brain damage, trembling, panic attacks, hot flashes and cataracts”.
Location: Canyon Country, California, USA.

Name: Lisa Florence Nave.
Age at death: 58.
Disability: Heart disease; “Bedridden”; nursing home resident.
Location: North Hills, California, USA.

Died: December 11, 2013.
Cause of death: Gunshot.

Details:
Bertha’s husband shot her because she was sick. Then he drove to his sister Lisa’s nursing home and shot her, too. The police called them “mercy killings”.

Case status:
Lance Hoger Anderson (Husband, brother), found guilty of murder, sentenced to 100 years to life.

Source:
Canyon Country man found guilty of murders
Lance Anderson of Santa Clarita charged in double mercy killing of wife and sister
2nd woman shot in purported mercy killings identified
‘I hope… I can be forgiven’: Man gets 100 years for ‘mercy killings’ of wife, sister
Double-murder conviction holds for traumatic shock disorder vet who killed ailing wife, sister

Stephanie Owen

Photo of Stephanie Owen and her mother Sharon Hayter. Stephanie is a young woman with long brown hair; her head is thrown back and she is laughing. Sharon is a woman with short brown hair and glasses; she is smiling and hugging Stephanie.Name: Stephanie Owen.
Died: November 28, 2013.
Age at death: 29.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: Knowsley, Merseyside, England, UK.
Disability: Intellectual disability; mobility impairment; diabetic.

Details:
Stephanie’s father bludgeoned her and her mother, Sharon Hayter, to death with a claw hammer.

Case status:
William Owen (Father), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 29 years, 90 days in prison.

Source:
Life sentence for doting dad who murdered his wife and disabled daughter at the family home
William Owen jailed for life for murdering daughter and partner
Claw hammer killer agreed bizarre ‘death pact’ with late partner before murdering disabled daughter

Qyzra Walji

Photo of Qyzra Walji, a young woman with straight brown hair and tan skin, smiling broadly. A wheelchair head rest is visible behind her head.Name: Qyzra Walji.
Died: October 31, 2013.
Age at death: 21.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: London, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
When she was about six years old, Qyzra’s parents immigrated to Canada from Tanzania, so that she could get good education and health care.

She was a bright student whose friends remember her smile fondly; she was always smiling. She liked fashion, pop culture, and boys.

She wrote an article in Girls’ Life about her experiences. You can read it here:
The Story Of A Girl With Cerebral Palsy

When their temporary visas expired and the government of Canada planned to deport them, Qyzra’s father shot her and her mother Shyroz in a murder-suicide.

Case status:
Mohamed Walji (Father), deceased.

Source:
Mohamed Walji killed his wife and severely disabled daughter, then himself, but questions remain
Listening to Qyzra
The Story Of A Girl With Cerebral Palsy
Waljis? relative says Immigration at root of family’s desperation
A building super, his wife and disabled daughter were found dead
London police confirm family of murder-suicide died from gunshot wounds
Police search for motive in tragic murder-suicide death of London, Ontario family | National Post
Triple death was murder-suicide

Lucas Mascini

Bulletin board covered with children's drawings with Dutch text, memorializing Lucas and Rosa.
Classmates’ memorial drawings for Lucas and Rosa V.

Name: Lucas Mascini (also called Lucas V).
Died: October 2, 2013.
Age at death: 8.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
Disability: “Severely disabled”.

Details:
Lucas and his six-year-old sister Rosa were murdered by their mother. Police say she told them she had been delusional and had been having trouble caring for her children, “especially her disabled son”.

Case status:
Aurélie V. (Mother); convicted of murder, sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Source:
Aurèlie V., de moeder die haar twee kinderen vermoorde stond vandaag voor de rechter
Moeder bracht haar kinderen om tijdens ‘nachtmerrie’
Hof veroordeelt Apeldoornse moeder tot 12 jaar cel voor doden van haar twee kinderen
Mother claims she was delusional when she killed her kids
Moeder doodde haar twee kinderen ‘in een waan’