Location: Australia – Page 9 – Disability Day of Mourning

Stephen Chin

Name: Stephen Chin.
Died: September 4, 2006.
Age at death: 63.
Cause of death: Fire.
Location: Daceyville, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: SCI; quadriplegic.

Details:
Knowing he could not move himself from his bed, Stephen’s estranged wife soaked his bedroom in gasoline and set the house on fire. He died in the fire. She told police she killed him so that he could not receive any of their property in their divorce settlement.

Case Status:
Grace Soon (Wife), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 6 years 9 months to 9 years in prison.

Sources:
Wife charged with quadriplegic’s murder
R v Soon
Money ‘motive in quadriplegic’s killing’
Jail for killing “sex orgy” hubby

Gregory Stewart

No Photo Name: Gregory Ross Stewart.
Died: August 9, 2006.
Age at death: 52.
Cause of death: Strangulation.
Location: Summerholm, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Leg amputee.

Details:
Gregory lived with his former partner, with whom he had broken up; but they were still living together until a property dispute could be resolved. Neighbors say his partner had a history of being violent towards him, with his decreased mobility making him an easier target. Gregory’s body was found in his living room; his prosthetic leg had been removed and he had been strangled.

Case Status:
Diana Fae Hughes (Partner), convicted of murder, sentenced to life.

Sources:
R v Hughes [2012] QCA 208 (14 August 2012)
Macabre slideshow of murder
Killer grandma has appeal rejected

Kazimiera Hys

No Photo Name: Kazimiera Hys.
Died: May 27, 2006.
Age at death: 76.
Cause of death: Sepsis, infected bedsores.
Location: Woodridge, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Kazimiera was left in her bed without necessary care; she developed severe bedsores, and her daughter did not seek care for her. The bedsores became infected and killed her.

She was an immigrant from Poland who worked as a cleaner.

Case Status:
Agnieszka Alojza Miller (Daughter), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 5 years imprisonment, suspended after 12 months.

Sources:
Mum died with maggots in sores, court told
Daughter let mum ‘rot to death’
R v Miller
R v Miller [2011] QCA 160 | Supreme Court Library Queensland
Agnieszka Alojza Miller’s jail sentence for manslaughter of 76-year-old mother upheld

Linda Blaauw

No Photo Name: Linda Edith Blaauw.
Died: May 23, 2006.
Age at death: 54.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Bayswater, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Disability: Paranoid schizophrenia; cancer survivor.

Details:
The day before her death, Linda’s psychologist told her that he could not guarantee a cure, and that it was possible for her mental illness to relapse. The next morning, as Linda lay sleeping, her husband stabbed her in the neck with a kitchen knife, killing her.

Case Status:
Donovan Alexander Blaauw (Husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to 7-11 years.

Sources:
R v Blaauw [2008] VSC 129 (24 April 2008)

Graeme Wylie

Name: Graeme Wylie.
Died: March 22, 2006.
Age at death: 71.
Cause of death: Barbiturate poisoning.
Location: Cammeray, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
Graeme had Alzheimer’s disease. His wife took him to Switzerland, hoping to have him euthanized; but the Swiss doctors told her that Graeme’s dementia was too severe for him to be able to consent to such a thing, and refused her. At the time, Graeme had moderate-to-severe dementia and was unable to remember things like how many children he had or what his birthday was.

Still intent on her husband’s death, Graeme’s wife asked a friend to travel to Mexico and buy her a high dose of a veterinary sedative. She administered this drug to Graeme, killing him.

Graeme’s daughters told reporters that Graeme had never said anything about suicide to them, and pointed out that his wife stood to inherit a large amount in his will when he died.

Graeme was a retired airline pilot.

Case Status:
Shirley Justins (Wife), found guilty of manslaughter, sentenced to 22-30 months of weekend detention.
Caren Jenning (Family friend), found guilty of being an accessory to manslaughter, died before sentencing.

Sources:
Dr Death chose life for Graeme
Woman gave Alzheimer’s husband fatal dose of drugs after Swiss authorities refused legal euthanasia
The death of Graeme Wylie
Graeme Wylie died a lonely death, says daughter.
Euthansia killer Shirley Justin escapes jail

Stefanie Brummer

Name: Stefanie Christina Brummer.
Died: September 18, 2005.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Eagleby, Logan, Queensland, Australia.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Stefanie’s mother smothered her. She was reportedly frustrated with the child for “doing the wrong thing and being naughty”.

Case Status:
Alice Maree Potter (Mother), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 3-8 years.

Sources:
R v Potter; ex parte A-G (Qld) [2008] QCA
Mother smothers 5yo to death

Grace Parkes

No Photo
Name: Grace Winifred Parkes.
Died: January 16, 2005.
Age at death: 83.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Sydney, Australia.
Disability: Diabetes, hypertension, Paget’s disease, Bells palsy, glaucoma, goitre, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

Details:
Grace’s son bludgeoned her to death.

Case status:
Phillip Raymond Parkes (Son), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 13-18 years.

Source:
Regina v Phillip Raymond Parkes [2006] NSWSC 331

Gracie Sharpe

Name: Gracie Louise Sharpe.
Died: March 27, 2004.
Age at death: 20 months.
Cause of death: Shot with speargun.
Location: Mornington, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Congenital hip dysplasia.

Details:
Gracie’s mother was pregnant with her younger sibling; but her father resented having to care for her and her special needs, and did not want another child. He used a spearfishing gun to kill Gracie’s mother, Anna Marie Kemp, whose baby, a son named Francis, died with her. He hid the body and pretended she had left him. Days later, he killed Gracie with the same speargun.

Case Status:
John Myles Sharpe (Father), convicted of two counts of murder, sentenced to 66 years to life.

Sources:
Sharpe family murders
Gracie Louise Sharpe (2002-2004) – Find A Grave.

Daniel Thomas

Photo of Daniel Thomas, a baby with dark hair and eyes. There is some bruising on his fair skin. He is wearing an orange and teal shirt. Name: Daniel Thomas.
Died: October 13, 2003.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Unknown suspicious death.
Location: Myrtleford, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Asthma, speech delay, allergies, eczema.

Details:
How Daniel he died is not known because his body was not found for several years, but the coroner suggested he might have been killed through strangulation, drowning, or a head injury. Police suspect that he was abused by his babysitter, and his mother ignored the abuse.

Case status:
Mandy Martyn (Babysitter) and Donna Thomas (Mother). No charges.

Source:
Coroner finds babysitter Mandy Martyn killed toddler Daniel Thomas —but also blames his mother Donna Thomas for doing nothing to help the boy
Cackling babysitter Mandy Martyn denies killing toddler Daniel Thomas, gives reporters a spray

E. A.

No Photo Name: E. A. (Initials; full name unknown.)
Died: August 29, 2003.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Pneumonia and pyelonephritis.
Location: Mortdale, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Physical and intellectual disability; likely osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome.

Details:
EA was born disabled, but his parents did not seek medical attention for him because his father did not believe in modern medicine. EA’s neonatal jaundice and cataracts were only treated once child welfare services became involved. His parents did not respond to his failure to thrive, small size, and weakness, believing that God would heal the child without a doctor’s help. At four years old, he was the size of a fifteen-month-old when he died from infections in his lungs and kidneys.

Case Status:
J. A. (Father), charged with manslaughter, died before trial.
H. A. (Mother), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 2 years, suspended for 2 years; released.

Sources:
R v HA
Religious mother admits to son’s death