Category: Location: Australia

Amanda Quirk

Photo: A blurry image of a young woman with very short brown hair and pale skin, wearing a black sweater. She is holding an orange-and-white cat. 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

Close-up photo of a teenage girl with fair skin, freckles, blue eyes, and brown wavy hair. She wears a piercing in the corner of her lip.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

Peter Eitzen

No PhotoName: Peter Eitzen.
Died: July 26, 2009.
Age at death: 16.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Mount Barker, Australia.
Disability: Intellectual disabilty.

Details:
Peter was drugged and stabbed to death by his mother. She told the court that she had intended to kill them both with carbon monoxide in the car, but after she sedated her son, he woke up and struggled, so she stabbed him instead.

Case status:
Beverley Eitzen (Mother); ruled mentally unfit to stand trial due to depression, and released on mental health supervision.

Source:
Mother freed over disabled son’s killing

Shaun Moloney

Photo of an older man with pale skin and a beard and mustache going from blond to white, wearing a black baseball cap.Name: Shaun Moloney.
Died: March 8, 2009.
Age at death: 46.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma, burns, alcohol poisoning.
Location: Glenroy, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Depression.

Details:
Shaun lived with two roommates. They beat him unconscious, dumped his body in a vacant lot, and set it on fire. Because Shaun had been drinking heavily the day he died, the court could not determine whether the cause of his death had been the beating, the fire, or alcohol poisoning; so his roommates could only be convicted of assault.

Case Status:
Darryl McHarg (Roommate), pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury, sentenced to 3 years 6 months to 6 years 6 months in prison.
Wayne Arthur (Roommate), pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury, sentenced to 3 years 6 months to 6 years 6 months in prison.

Sources:
R v McHarg & Arthur
Two charged with murder of Shaun Patrick Moloney
Pair jailed for assaulting a man who died, but escape charges over his death
MOLONEY, Shaun Patrick | Death Notices | Melbourne

Maia Comas

Photo: Baby with brown hair, brown eyes, and pale skin; she is naked, lying on her stomach, propped on one elbow and holding a carrot out to the camera.Name: Maia Comas.
Died: December 3, 2007.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Sydney, Australia.
Disability: Rett syndrome.

Details:
When Maia was diagnosed with Rett syndrome, her parents wanted to euthanize her. Told this was illegal, they “coincidentally” found Maia drowned in a wading pool and did not attempt to resuscitate her.

Case status:
Pablo Comas and Samantha Comas (Parents) were never charged.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Maia Comas
News of daughter’s illness devastated parents, inquest told
“Why do they keep children with these disabilities alive?”
Maia Coma’s mother says an inability to perform CPR made her feel like a murderer
Coroner unable to say if baby Maia Comas’ death was accidental
Coroner returns open finding into toddler Maia Comas’s pool death
Parents greatly irresponsible over baby Maia’s death: coroner

Shellay Ward

Photo of Shellay Ward, a young girl with pale skin and auburn hair cut in a pageboy, wearing a big blue beret, a flower-patterned dress, and a broad smile.Name: Shellay Ward.
Died: November 13, 2007.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Hawks Nest, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Shellay was locked into a back room, where she died from long-term neglect and starvation.

Case status:
Sharyn Ward (Mother), convicted of murder, sentenced to life without parole.
Blakely Ward (Father), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 12 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Shellay Ward
Father who killed ‘mummified’ daughter, 7, loses bid to walk from jail
Shellay Ebony Ward
Ebony: Judge restores some dignity to starved girl

Kate Bugmy

Photo of Kate Bugmy. She is a young woman sitting in a wheelchair, with her dark hair tied back. She is wearing overalls and an orange T-shirt. Her limbs are very thin.Name: Kate Bugmy.
Died: June 28, 2007.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Sepsis, malnutition.
Location: Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, epilepsy, intellectual disability.

Details:
Kate’s father had been her primary caregiver. When he died suddenly, her mother and sister took over. They stopped bringing Kate to her day program, and her relatives noticed that she seemed sad. She died of malnutrition and systemic blood poisoning from infected bedsores.

Case status:
Daphne Hall (mother) and Jenna Bugmy (sister) were not charged.

Source:
FINDING AFTER AN INQUEST INTO THE DEATH OF KATE THERESE BUGMY
NSW bed sore death could have been prevented: Coroner
System failed disabled woman who died at 26
Inquiry into services provided or funded by the department of Ageing, disability and home care

Janine Brockie

No PhotoName: Janine Penelope Brockie.
Died: May 10, 2007.
Age at death: 42.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Ringwood, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Stroke, TBI.

Details:
Janine was likely being physically abused by her partner in the year before her death. After one beating, in which Janine was punched and kicked, and then left in her bed for most of the next day without medical care, Janine died from a severe head injury.

Case Status:
Brian Robert Andrew (Partner), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 7-10 years in prison.

Sources:
R v Andrew [2008] VSC 138 (1 May 2008)
Man faces court over partner’s death
Bash killer gets 10 years

Baden Bond

Photo: A baby with dark hair and olive-toned skin, wearing a whtie-and-blue onesie, belted into a blue car seat with a five-point belt. His hands are propped behind his head, and his eyes closed; he looks relaxed.Name: Baden Bond.
Died: May 1-16, 2007 (Approximate; body not found).
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Abandonment.
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Baden’s father took him to a boat ramp and abandoned him there. His body was never found; it is likely he died of drowning or exposure. Authorities determined that his motive had been that he was “tired of looking after” the boy. Baden’s mother helped cover up the crime.

Case Status:
Shane Arthur Simpson (Father), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 9.6 to 12 years in prison.
Diane Colleen Simpson (Mother), pleaded guilty to accessory to manslaughter, sentenced to 3 years and released after almost 2 years.

Sources:
R v Simpson
Death by Neglect
‘Sorry’: Father says he patted toddler on the head then abandoned him without looking back
Drug-addicted father jailed for abandoning toddler at boat ramp to die
The Uncounted

Janene Devine

Photo of Janene Devine, a middle-aged white woman with short brown hair.Name: Janene Devine.
Died: April 16, 2007.
Age at death: 48.
Cause of death: Infection, starvation.
Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Disability: Multiple sclerosis.

Details:
Janene’s husband, a registered nurse, did not want anyone else to help his wife. He refused placement at a care home for her, and even rejected an offer of free installation of a wheelchair ramp so that she could get out of the house, preferring to carry her instead. Then he neglected her so badly that she died from infected bedsores and starvation.

Case status:
Andrew Devine (Husband), pled guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 6 months to 1 year.

Source:
Inquest into the death of Janene Devine
Dead Mother ‘Looked Like A Skeleton’
Andrew Devine jailed over death of wife Janene, who suffered multiple sclerosis and weighed 30kg at her death
“Filthy and infested with vermin”
Man refused help for wife with MS