83-year-old woman

No PhotoName Unknown.
Died: October 2013.
Age at death: 83.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Stroke, dementia, mental illness, epilepsy.

Details:
This 83-year-old woman was neglected by her son and daughter-in-law, who were receiving government payments to care for her. She was denied her medication, starved, and left uncared for on a filthy mattress. She was severely malnourished and filthy, and had been fed by mouth even though her stroke had made it difficult for her to swallow. When she cried for help, her son bought everyone earplugs. She died of untreated bronchopneumonia.

Three of her grandchildren testified against their parents for the abuse that ended in their grandmother’s death.

Case status:
Her son, age 52, convicted of reckless conduct endangering life, sentenced to 12-18 months in jail.
Her daughter-in-law, age 46, convicted of reckless conduct endangering life, given a 12-month suspended sentence.

Source:
Son bought family ear plugs so they couldn’t hear grandmother’s cries
Judge considering tougher penalties for neglect couple
Man jailed for letting his mother die over 16 months without medicine
Man jailed for ‘inhumane’ neglect of elderly mum
Grandmother left to die in own filth
Australian man bought earplugs to drown out his elderly mother’s cries of pain
Son and his wife to stand trial on neglect charges after elderly mother’s death
Son and daughter-in-law to stand trial for mother’s horrific death
Dead woman’s grandchildren to give evidence in their parents’ neglect trial

Hayley Bell

Photo of a sleeping fair-skinned toddler girl, draped in cloth.Name: Hayley Dea Bell.
Died: August 1, 2013.
Age at death: 8.
Cause of death: Pneumonia, malnutrition.
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Developmental disability; tube-fed; epilepsy.

Details:
Hayley’s mother refused services and took her daughter out of school. Hayley died of starvation and pneumonia, weighing 12 kilograms (26 pounds).

Case status:
Elisha Bell (Mother), caregiver. No charges.

Source:
Starved, sick and unschooled: Did child protection fail Hayley?
Bell, Hayley Dea

Levai Bonnar

Photo of a boy with tan skin and straight black hair, smiling for the camera, wearing a blue hoodie.Name: Levai Bonnar.
Died: May 21, 2013.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Sydney, Australia.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Levai was beaten, starved, and humiliated by his parents. The abuse eventually proved fatal when Levai died of head injuries.

Levai’s killers nearly escaped justice by claiming the boy had died from falling off a pogo stick.

Case status:
Kayla James (Mother), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 10½ years.
Kodi James Maybir (Mother’s boyfriend), convicted of murder, sentenced to 31½ to 38 years.

Source:
Boy spent last months being abused: court
Life term urged for child killer Kodi Maybir
Christian hip-hop producer Kodi Maybir jailed for killing partner’s child

Douglas Streeter

An older man with ruddy skin and white hair and mustache, wearing a cardigan and button-up shirt.Name: Douglas Ivor Streeter.
Died: March 14, 2013.
Age at death: 69.
Cause of death: Shooting.
Location: Natte Yallock, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Motor neuron disease.

Details:
Douglas and his brother John owned a large sheep farm, which his son was due to inherit when he died. His son shot Douglas and John.

From Douglas’s obituary: “Dougie, an extraordinary person. You always greeted us with wide open arms when we came to visit. Our hearts would melt as we watched you take our little boy out for many drives in your ute with the flashing light.

Case Status:
Ross Streeter (Son), convicted of two counts of murder, sentenced to 28-37 years.

Sources:
Love and tears for lost brothers
Farm killer stood to inherit $500,000
Killer Ross Streeter ‘sick in the guts’ over shooting murder of father, Douglas, and uncle, John
The Queen v Streeter
STREETER, Douglas Ivor | Death Notices | Melbourne

Breeana Robinson

Photo of Breeana Robinson, a young woman with fair, tanned skin and blond hair in a ponytail. Her teeth are straight and she is wearing make-up that emphasizes her large eyes. She is wearing an aqua tank top.Name: Breeana Robinson.
Died: January 29, 2013.
Age at death: 21.
Cause of death: Murder.
Location: Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Congenital condition causing blindness.

Details:
Breeana had been a cheerleader for the Gold Coast Titans and wanted to become a dancer on a cruise ship.

Unfortunately, she became involved with a man who had a history of harassing women. He began to send her abusive text messages. He isolated her from her family. Then she was found dead, having fallen from an 11th-floor apartment balcony.

Those who knew her boyfriend immediately suspected that he had driven her to suicide, although her boyfriend insisted that she had committed suicide because she was depressed about her disability.

In 2018, Sunday Night covered the case, and new witnesses came forward. After expert analysis and the new eyewitness testimony, it was alleged that Breeana had not committed suicide after all; she had been pushed from that balcony to her death. In early 2019, almost six years after her death, Breeana’s boyfriend was finally arrested.

Case status:
Dan Shearin, aka Jayden Moorea (Boyfriend). Initially pleaded guilty to text harassment; given a six-month sentence with two months suspended; appealed and had the sentence canceled. Arrested; charged with murder; charges dropped ten years after initial charges because prosecutors decided they did not have a reasonable chance of a conviction.

Source:
Breeana Robinson death: Cruise ship singer’s bizarre musical about girlfriend who fell to her death from his balcony – after murder charges were sensationally dropped
Man who allegedly threw girlfriend off Gold Coast high-rise committed to stand trial
A young cheerleader’s final moments before she fell from a balcony
Cruise ship singer accused with throwing his blind cheerleader girlfriend to her death breaches bail
Entertainer Dan Shearin regrets pleading guilty in Breeana Robinson harassment
Man charged over the alleged murder of his cheerleader girlfriend
‘You pray for this day’: Man charged with murder of Gold Coast cheerleader
Man charged with murder of girlfriend, who fell from balcony six years ago
Ex charged with murdering cheerleader
‘It’s still raw’: Family reveals pain after man charged with cheerleader’s murder
Dan Shearin arrested in relation to the death of Breeana Robinson
Family of cheerleader who plunged to from balcony say she didn’t fall

Erin Crabtree

Photo of Erin Crabtree, a teenage girl with pale skin and brown hair, smiling at the camera. Someone in a lion costume is resting their hand on her shoulder.Name: Erin Crabtree.
Died: September 4, 2012.
Age at death: 18.
Cause of death: Opiate poisoning.
Location: Maudsland, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Developmental disability, autism.

Details:
Erin was allegedly fatally poisoned with codeine by her mother, who staged her death as a suicide and collected life insurance. Five years later, Erin’s brother Jonathan would die the same way.

When Erin’s mother was finally arrested, Erin’s sister, also disabled and in her mother’s custody, was found in bad shape from having been repeatedly dosed with sedatives, and was rescued.

Case status:
Maree Crabtree (Mother), charged with two counts of murder, grievous bodily harm, torture, fraud, and armed robbery.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Erin Crabtree
Mum’s strange decision before deaths
Witness claims mum accused of murdering children wished son was dead: court
Gold Coast mum Maree Mavis Crabtree accused of murdering her two disabled children
‘Very controlling’: Chilling allegations against Qld mum accused of killing her disabled kids
Mum’s strict rules before alleged murder
Mom murdered her two adult children for insurance payouts, police say
Australian mother arrested after she allegedly poisoned her disabled kids
Gold Coast mother killed two adult children for financial gain, police allege
Maree Crabtree ‘told disabled son to hold up a chemist’
Mum, 51, charged with murdering her kids told one to rob a chemist
Mother accused of poisoning her disabled adult children to death bagged $500k in insurance
‘Killer mum’ claimed $500k in insurance for disabled kids
Mum allegedly poisoned two children, prepared suicide note
Queensland mother allegedly murdered her two children with disabilities for money
Mother charged over children’s murders
QLD mother charged with murder, torture after allegedly poisoning two children to death
Friend says murdered Jonathon Crabtree was ‘full of life’
Jonathan Crabtree tried to call best mate an hour before his death
Australian mother arrested for the alleged murder of her two disabled children
Gold Coast mother killed two adult children for financial gain, police allege
Son of murder-accused had been ‘trying to pick up his life’ before he was found dead
Pictured: Disabled siblings ‘poisoned to death by rat-loving mother’
Australian mum ‘poisoned, killed disabled children for financial gain’, police claim
Murder-accused mother used prescription drugs to control children: police
Police say murder-accused mum helped son secure $200,000 disability benefits, then staged his suicide
Mum accused of disabled kids’ murder said one got Autism from a needle
Australian woman kills two ‘disabled’ adult children for financial gains
Mum partied as Erin died alone
Father of murdered siblings tried to have his son put in care
The missing Sprite cup in the police case against an accused double murderer

Julie Kuhn

Photo of an older woman with short curly gray hair, slightly tanned fair skin, glasses ,and a pink shirt.Name: Julie Betty Kuhn.
Died: January 16, 2012.
Age at death: 75.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Armadale, Western Australia, Australia.
Disability: Stroke, arthritis.

Details:
Julie was found suffocated at her house. Her husband was arrested; neighbors commented they believed it had been a “mercy killing”.

Case Status:
Herbert Bernard Erickson (Husband), charged with aggravated grievous bodily harm; died by suicide before trial.

Sources:
‘Beautiful carer’ charged over his partner’s death
Tragic end to mercy killer’s life

Julian Pintar

Photo of Julian Pintar. He is a young boy with dark curly hair, olive skin, and large dark brown eyes.Name: Julian Pintar.
Died: October 1, 2011.
Age at death: 11.
Cause of death: Hypothermia.
Location: Kandos, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Autism, neurocutaneous melanosis.

Details:
Julian died of long-term abuse and neglect. He had been tied to a chair for long periods of time, expected to sleep upright, in a garden shed. He had also been sprayed with cold water and then left in the shed, causing hypothermia which was particularly dangerous to this already thin boy, weakened by malnutrition. By the time he was found unresponsive and taken to the hospital, he was dead. An autopsy also found blood poisoning and internal injuries.

Case status:
Rudolph Pintar (Stepfather), pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
KP (Mother), charged with manslaughter.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Julian Pintar
Murdered boy was autistic: police
Pair charged with autistic boy’s murder
Man and woman charged with child’s death
Boy with autism died after being bound to chair and showered in cold water: court
Boy with autism ‘was bound to chair and showered in cold water’ before dying
Magician pleads guilty to unlawful death of autistic boy left to freeze in shed
Julian Pintar 2000-2011

Tanilla Warrick-Deaves

Photo of Tanilla Warrick-Deaves. She is a toddler with tan skin and curly black hair. She is wearing a pink dress, and holding a ribbon in her hands.Name: Tanilla Warrick-Deaves.
Died: August 27, 2011.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Central Coast, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Bowed legs.

Details:
Tanila was abused by her stepfather. After a beating, it was obvious that Tanila had a head injury, but her mother, seeing how badly hurt Tanila was, did not call the ambulance because she figured it would be better if Tanila died than if she lived as “a vegetable”. Instead, she put Tanila in a pram, where the little girl took three days to die.

Case status:
Donna Deaves (Mother), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 9-12 years in jail.
Warren Ross (Stepfather), convicted of murder, sentenced to 30-40 years prison.

Source:
Mum who watched daughter, 2, being whipped and tortured to death set to go free
How a monster was able to kill little Tanilla Warrick-Deaves
Mum felt it ‘a bit late’ to save beaten Tanilla
Agonising abuse of tiny Tanilla: NSW court

Isabella Leiper

No PhotoName: Isabella Leiper.
Died: July 17, 2011.
Age at death: 9.
Cause of death: Internal bleeding from abdominal injury.
Location: Clarence Town, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Isabella’s father allegedly killed her by punching her in the stomach, causing fatal internal injuries.

Case status:
David Leiper (Father); charged with manslaughter, out on bail as of February 2014.

Source:
Coroner suspends inquest into death of disabled girl
NSW dad charged over disabled daughter’s death
Nine-year-old’s death: Jury to determine what caused injuries
Man accused of killing cerebral palsy-suffering daughter faces court
NSW dad charged over disabled daughter’s death
Case delays in disabled girl’s death
Inquest into Clarence Town death hears triple-O call
Man charged over death of severely disabled girl