Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Spouse or romantic partner.
Name: Sandra Blair.
Age at death: 36.
Disability: Injury from a car accident.
Name: Justin Blair.
Age at death: 8.
Disability: Cerebral palsy; blindness.
Died: March 11, 1996.
Cause of death: Bludgeoned with hammer.
Location: Concord, New Hampshire, USA.
Details:
Sandra and Justin, mother and son, were killed by Sandra’s husband, Justin’s father, who bludgeoned them with a hammer.
Case status:
Robert Blair (Father); convicted of murder; sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
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
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?
Name: Cecil Brush.
Died: August 18, 1994.
Age at death: 81.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease, blindness.
Details:
Cecil was stabbed to death by his wife, who called it a mercy killing and said Cecil wanted to die. There was no proof that Cecil was suicidal or that he wanted to die.
Case status:
Jean Brush (Wife), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, given a suspended sentence and 18 months of probation.
Source:
History of euthanasia in Canada
Woman Sentenced in Mercy Killing
Of Life and Death – Appendices D-L
Regina v. Brush: March 2, 1995
Name: Joan Vollmer.
Died: January 30, 1993.
Age at death: 49.
Cause of death: Asphyxia, heart attack.
Location: Antwerp, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Schizophrenia, depression/anxiety.
Details:
When Joan had an episode of psychosis, her husband decided that she was possessed. He and three others tied Joan to her bed and then to a chair, refusing her food and water and beating her to try to exorcise the demons. Joan died after four days of torture.
Case status:
Ralph Vollmer (Husband), suspended sentence.
Leanne Reichenbach, sentenced to 4 months in prison.
David Klinger, sentenced to 3 months in prison.
Matthew Nuske, suspended sentence.
Source:
The people who own it don’t want to live there House abandoned after bizarre exorcism
The Exorcism of Joan Vollmer
A Terrible Exorcism
AUSTRALIAN WOMAN DIES AFTER 4-DAY EXORCISM
Exorcism Goes Wrong in Victoria
Name: Janet Cunningham.
Disability: Head injury from car accident.
Age at death: 43.
Name: Dorothy Cunningham.
Disability: Osteoporosis.
Age at death: 62.
Died: September 8, 1992.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Farmingham, Utah, USA.
Details:
Dorothy and Janet were hacked to death with a hatchet.
Dorothy, a homemaker, taught piano lessons. Janet loved skiing and was a former member of the National Ski Patrol.
Case status:
Ronald Cunningham (Janet’s father and Dorothy’s husband). Incompetent to stand trial; charges dropped.
Source:
Davis to drop murder counts against man in mental facility
MURDER SUSPECT TO REMAIN IN HOSPITAL
Name: Ed Dossett.
Died: August 12, 1992.
Age at death: 44.
Cause of death: Murder.
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: Terminal cancer.
Details:
Ed was drugged with an overdose of morphine; then he was placed in a cattle pen, where he was trampled. The incident was initially written off as an agricultural accident until his wife, charged with killing her second husband, David Leath, came under suspicion for Ed’s death as well.
Ed Dossett served as the Knox County District Attorney General.
Case status:
Raynella Leath (Wife), charged with murder, convicted; conviction overturned, judge declared insufficient evidence to re-try the case.
Source:
Raynella Leath
Tennessee Woman Accused in a Trail of Death
Widow indicted in death once ruled a farm accident
Raynella Dossett Leath
Jury selection in accused black widow case underway
Testimony begins for woman accused of killing both of her husbands
Knox medical examiner calls death ‘homicide’ in accused black widow trial
Name: Alice Hummel.
Died: Missing October 6, 1990; body not found.
Age at death: 46.
Cause of death: Missing, presumed dead.
Location: Bellingham, Washington, USA.
Disability: Lupus.
Details:
Alice was killed by her husband. Her body was never found, so we don’t know how she died, but her husband told a cellmate that he had fed her poison in a glass of apple juice to “help [her] get to a better place”.
Alice was a retired teacher.
Case status:
Bruce Allen Hummel (Husband), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to 45 years; conviction overturned because the jurors had been questioned improperly. Re-tried; convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to 26 years; conviction overturned because premeditation could not be proved. Convicted of wire fraud for stealing Alice’s disability checks; spent a total of 10 years in prison before release.
Source:
Bruce Hummel
Murder conviction overturned for Bruce Hummel, again, in death of his wife in Bellingham
The Charley Project: Alice Kristina Wehr Hummel
45 years for man who won’t say what happened to wife’s body
Name: Dr. Malanie Desilva Paul.
Age at death: 48.
Disability: Arthritis, depression.
Name: Medhini Paul.
Age at death: 17.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Name: Anthony Rajiva Paul.
Age at death: 12.
Disability: None.
Died: June 16, 1990.
Cause of death: Poisoned.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Details:
Dr. Malanie Paul, her 17-year-old daughter Medhini, and her son Anthony Rajiva were killed by her husband, also a doctor, who sedated his family and then attached them and himself to IVs full of poison. Apparently, he had decided that there was “no alternative to death” for his disabled wife and daughter, and had killed twelve-year-old Anthony too because he feared that the boy would enter the foster care system and become “a freak”.
Case status:
Anthony R. Paul (Husband/Father), deceased.
Name: Lorraine Miranda.
Died: December 5, 1988.
Age at death: 24.
Cause of death: Homicidal violence.
Location: Graniteville, New York, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.
Details:
Lorraine was strangled and stabbed to death by her fiance. He tried to make it look like a burglary, but was caught and arrested.
She worked as a therapist who worked with children who, like her, had cerebral palsy.
Case status:
Chris Patterson (Fiance); convicted of murder, sentenced to 15 years to life.
Source:
S.I. man who killed, mutilated disabled fiancee in 1988 denied parole again
Staten Island man, who brutally murdered fiancee 25 years ago, denied parole for sixth time