Location: Australia – Page 7 – Disability Day of Mourning

Kyla Puhle

No Photo Name: Kyla Puhle.
Died: March 19, 2011.
Age at death: 27.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: North Brighton, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Six months before Kyla died, her parents stopped taking her to her day program and instead left her lying, alone, on a bean bag while they went to work. Gradually they fed Kyla less and less, until Kyla died of malnutrition and pneumonia, weighing only 12 kilos.

Case status:
Harry Puhle (Father), died by suicide before he could be tried.
Angela Puhle (Mother), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, freed with five-year suspended sentence.

Source:
Disability is no justification for murder
Mercy urged for mum who starved daughter
Angela Puhle, Former Principal, Admits To Starving Disabled Daughter To Death: A Burden Too Great?
Adelaide mother spared jail over malnutrition manslaughter of disabled daughter
Former school principal Angela Puhle receives suspended sentence for manslaughter of disabled daughter

Christine Anthony

No Photo Name: Christine Anthony.
Died: February 15, 2011.
Age at death: 50.
Cause of death: Burns.
Location: Narromine, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Spastic paraplegia.

Details:
On Valentine’s Day, Christine’s boyfriend poured alcohol over her and set it on fire. Christine managed to call for help and identified her boyfriend as the attacker before dying of a heart attack on the way to the burn unit.

Case Status:
David Allan Harding (Boyfriend), sentenced to 20 years 3 months to 27 years.

Sources:
CHRISTINE ANTHONY (#2-2011)
‘Defenceless woman’ murdered
Harding v R [2013] NSWSC 513 (16 May 2013)

Baby Girl

No Photo Name Unknown.
Died: November 18, 2010.
Age at death: 6 months.
Cause of death: Drowned.
Location: Sydney, Australia.
Disability: None; mother believed she had dwarfism.

Details:
This baby girl was born without any congenital conditions, but because she had skin tags on her ears, her mother believed her daughter had a disability. She had doctors test her over and over, each time with negative results, but became fixed on the idea that the baby had dwarfism. When a friend told her to stop worrying because it wasn’t cancer, she replied that it would be “better to deal with a terminal illness than to spend a lifetime with a dwarf”.

Her mother drowned the six-month-old girl in the bathtub.

Case status:
Her mother, sentenced to up to 20 years in a mental health institution; found fit to stand trial in August 2016, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Source:
Australian mother sentenced to 20 years jail for drowning 6-month-old child
Mother who killed baby believing she was a dwarf should not be jailed, court told
Mother who drowned her baby after worrying she had dwarfism sentenced to 20 years
NSW mother to face baby’s murder trial
Sydney mother who drowned her baby in the bath found guilty of murder
Sydney woman who drowned her daughter convicted of murder
Mother accused of drowning her baby in a bath
Mother found guilty of murdering baby she believed had a genetic defect
Mother fit to stand trial over baby death
Mother drowned her girl because she thought she had dwarfism

Allan Heath

No Photo Name: Allan Heath.
Died: November 3, 2010.
Age at death: 47.
Cause of death: Stabbing.
Location: Langford, Western Australia, Australia.
Disability: Mobility impaired.

Details:
Allan had a tenant who lived in a shed in his backyard, and who functioned as a caregiver for him. However, his tenant sold drugs; and though Allan used drugs himself, he was growing tired of having his caregiver do drug deals on the property. Three days after Allan gave the man an ultimatum and told him to move out, the man returned to the house and stabbed him in the stomach, perforating a large vein and killing him.

Case Status:
Christopher John Elliott (Friend, live-in caregiver), convicted of murder, sentenced to 14 years to life.

Sources:
Drug-user jailed for life for stabbing friend
Fatal stab victim was ‘white as a ghost’
Murder accused: ‘I stabbed the dog’
Accused murderer spoke of stabbing man
Tenant living in shed jailed for owner’s murder
Life sentence for stabbing murder

Suellen Pike

Name: Suellen Pike.
Died: August 12, 2010 (Last seen).
Age at death: 62.
Cause of death: Missing, presumed dead.
Location: Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Hyperthyroidism, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, insomnia, migraines and arthritis.

Details:
Soon after she signed her house into his name, Suellen’s son killed her and dumped the body, which has not been found.

Case Status:
Stephen Jonathon Pike (Son), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 10-and-a-half years, 80% of which must be served before parole.

Sources:
Suellen PIKE
R v Pike
Stephen Pike jailed for 10-and-a-half years for killing mother, whose body has never been found, after she changed her will

Janet Mackozdi

No Photo Name: Janet Mackozdi.
Died: July 23, 2010.
Age at death: 77.
Cause of death: Hypothermia.
Location: Mt. Lloyd, Tasmania, Australia.
Disability: Dementia, coronary vascular disease, mobility impaired.

Details:
Janet’s daughter and son-in-law made her live in an uninsulated shipping container on their property in midwinter, so they could make room in their house for boxes of their belongings. They spent her money, and did not care for her as her weight dropped, even though one was a nurse and the other a disability support worker. Temperatures dropped below freezing and she died of hypothermia.

Case status:
Jassy Anglin (Daughter), pleaded guilty to causing death by culpable negligence and received a 2-year suspended sentence.
Michael Anglin (Son-in-law), pleaded guilty to causing death by culpable negligence and received a 2-year suspended sentence.

Source:
Sam Connor on Twitter
Dead elderly woman had lost 15kg in her final year, inquest told
Inquest examines care of 77yo who died of hypothermia in shipping container
Couple pleads guilty to death of elderly relative housed in shipping container
Woman dies after being ‘forced to live in a shipping container’
Couple charged after mother freezes to death sleeping in shipping container
Couple avoids jail over mother’s death
Tragic mum couple walks
Elder abuse reform needed over 77yo’s shipping container death, coroner says
Tassie couple let her freeze to death: coroner

Tomislav Svetina

No Photo Name: Tomislav Svetina.
Died: July 8, 2010.
Age at death: 74.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Doncaster, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Frail elder; bowel cancer survivor, heart disease, gout, tremor.

Details:
Tomislav told a family friend that he was afraid of his son, so he kept a hatchet by his bed for protection. His son cut the power to the house, entered his father’s bedroom, grabbed the hatchet from his father, and killed him with it. Though Tomislav had been violent toward his wife in the past, the court determined that he posed no threat to his son in his frail state, and that killing him with the hatchet had been a disproportionate response.

Before retirement, Tomislav worked as an electrician.

Case Status:
Zlatko “Boris” Svetina, convicted of defensive homicide, sentenced to 7-11 years in prison.

Sources:
R v Svetina
Son jailed for killing dad with axe

Elizabeth Knowles

Name: Elizabeth Joy Knowles.
Died: April 22, 2010.
Age at death: 48.
Cause of death: Smoke inhalation.
Location: Kallangur, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Chronic illness, mobility impairment (Wheelchair user).

Details:
Elizabeth died in a house fire that had been deliberately set, with the smoke detectors disabled. Less than a day later, her husband put in an insurance claim on the house.

Case status:
David Maxwell Knowles (Husband), charged with murder, arson, and fraud; found dead on the day he was set to go to court.

Source:
Man charged over wife’s death in fire found dead
ELIZABETH JOY KNOWLES (#54-2010)
Man charged with murdering disabled wife in fire to claim insurance
ELIZABETH JOY KNOWLES (#54-2010)
Motive sought for ‘suspicious’ fatal house fire
Husband charged six years later
Man charged with murdering disabled wife in fire to claim insurance

Amanda Quirk

Name: Amanda Quirk.
Died: April 8, 2010.
Age at death: 32.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Booval, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Unspecified; on disability pension.

Details:
Amanda’s roommates tortured her to make her give them access to her bank account, killed her, and dumped her body.

Amanda had an orange-and-white cat named Megsy. She had a tattoo on her hand that read, “Mum”.

Case Status:
Christopher James Swan (Roommate), convicted of murder, sentenced to life.
Rachel Narelle Smith (Roommate), convicted of being an accessory to murder, sentenced to 3-7 years.
Michelle Anna Mondientz (Acquaintance), convicted of being an accessory after the fact to murder, sentenced to 5 years.

Sources:
Quirk flatmate found guilty of being accessory to murder
Flatmate convicted of murdering Quirk granted re-trial
R v. Swan
AMANDA QUIRK (#48-2010)
Woman ‘tortured and bashed to death’
Witness helped smuggle Amanda’s dead body out of home
Man tells of drive to dump body
Murdered Ipswich woman’s body ‘unidentified’
Family speaks out on Quirk murder

Clarissa Callow

Name: Clarissa “Sal” Callow.
Died: August 10, 2009.
Age at death: 17.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Cystic fibrosis.

Details:
After Clarissa broke up with her boyfriend, he began stalking her. Two weeks after the breakup, he strangled her and left her for dead locked in a shed in a position that compressed her chest, causing her death.

Clarissa was a skilled archer who won several medals at the Queensland Archery Titles.

Case Status:
Bowan Taylor Wade (Ex-boyfriend), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 15 years to life; retrial ordered, declared guilty of manslaughter, sentenced to 4 years 6 months to 9 years in prison.

Sources:
R v Wade
Retrial over murder guilty plea
Teen’s killing will go to trial
Tributes flow for teen
Jury finds Wade guilty
Shock retrial in teen murder case