Location: New Zealand – Disability Day of Mourning

Jean Salter

Name: Jean Ann Salter.
Died: October 8, 2023.
Age at death: 78.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Mount Maunganui, North Island, New Zealand.
Disability: Dementia.

Details:
Jean’s dementia was progressing, and it had been suggested that Jean should be moved to a residential facility; her husband, upset that they might be separated, strangled her with a necktie. The killer claimed that there was a suicide pact, but there is no evidence of this save for his claim, and Jean, impaired by dementia, would not have been able to consent to an assisted suicide.

Case Status:
John Alfred Salter (Husband), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to up to four years in prison.

Sources:
Man jailed for killing elderly wife in failed suicide pact
Wife’s last words as husband of 60 years strangled her with a tie
‘Smell of an oily rag’: Murder of wife with Alzheimer’s shows need for more dementia support

Alex

No Photo Name: Alex (Surname unknown).
Died: January 9, 2023.
Age at death: 17.
Cause of death: Anorexia nervosa.
Location: South Island, New Zealand.
Disability: Autism, anorexia, OCD.

Details:
Alex was a transgender boy whose parents refused to accept his identity, insisting that it was an expression of his eating disorder and eventually driving him to leave home at the age of sixteen. Alex died from anorexia at the age of seventeen while living in a hotel room.

Case Status:
No one has been charged. After the publication of an article written by a biased journalist, anti-trans activists have blamed Alex’s death on the support services he used, claiming that they were ignoring his declining health in favor of “playing gender games.” A second journalist, in contact with Alex’s friends, challenged that story and portrayed Alex as a troubled but compassionate young man who had been unable to reach out for help because of a long history of rejection and abuse by parents and professionals.

Sources:
All sources have a content warning for transphobia, deadnaming, and misgendering. Sources from a transphobic viewpoint are specifically labeled.
The Life and Death of Alex
Update: On RNZ and Ruth Hill
Autistic trans teen starves to death
Stop conflating being transgender with being sick
The Weekend: Dignity in death shouldn’t be so hard
Rights Aotearoa Demands Immediate Action Over RNZ’s Unconscionable Misrepresentation Of Deceased Trans Youth
Autism Memorial: Alex
Teenager starves to death alone in emergency accommodation (CW: Transphobic viewpoint.)
The tragic loss of our [son] [Alex] (CW: Transphobic viewpoint.)

Beverley McIlrath

No Photo Name: Beverley Joan McIlrath.
Died: April 2, 2022.
Age at death: 80.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand.
Disability: Diabetes, hypothyroidism, vascular dementia.

Details:
Beverley’s son, who cared for her, became gradually more and more controlling, isolating her from the world, as time passed. When her worried family, who had sent her birthday flowers that went ignored, requested a welfare check, police found her body. Beverley’s son had killed her with a sword and died by suicide.

Case Status:
Nicholas McIlraith (Son) is deceased.

Sources:
Reclusive son killed dementia-stricken mother with sword in grisly murder-suicide
Beverley MCILRAITH Obituary (2022)

Chevana Fox

Photo Unavailable Name: Chevana Marie Fox.
Died: February 28, 2021.
Age at death: 28.
Cause of death: Hypoxic brain injury due to strangulation.
Location: Napier, New Zealand.
Disability: Juvenile Huntington’s disease.

Details:
Chevana’s mother strangled her. Her mother called emergency services to report what she had done, and Chevana was taken to the hospital; but her brain had been without oxygen too long, and she died four weeks later.

Case Status:
Cherlyene May Lawrence (Mother), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 6 years 6 months.

Source:
Mum who killed terminally-ill daughter sentenced to six and a half years in jail
Napier mother admits murdering daughter with juvenile Huntington’s disease
Mother admits killing disabled daughter in Napier

Noeleen Marinovich

Photo: A middle-aged woman with dark hair and light skin, in a soft orange suit, smiling for the camera. Name: Noeleen Ann Marinovich.
Died: February 7, 2019.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Oratia, North Island, New Zealand.
Disability: Bipolar disorder, mobility impaired.

Details:
Noeleen’s son strangled her, then bludgeoned her to death with a hammer.

For her 60th birthday, she wanted to go to Queenstown. Noeleen died at age 59.

Case status:
Martin Marinovich (Son), convicted of murder, sentenced to 14 years to life.

Source:
Inside the senseless murder of a reclusive mother by her only son
Man found guilty of murdering mother with hammer
Son who strangled mother and hit her with a hammer 12 times guilty of murder
Noeleen MARINOVICH’s Notice
Son who strangled mother and beat her with hammer jailed for murder

Comfort Thompson-Pene

No Photo Name: Comfort Jay Thompson-Pene.
Died: July 24, 2018.
Age at death: 18 months.
Cause of death: Blunt head trauma.
Location: Tirau, North Island, New Zealand.
Disability: Birth defect.

Details:
Comfort died from head trauma after long-term child abuse and neglect.

She had spent her first few months of her life in the hospital.

Case Status:
Southern Thompson (Mother), convicted of murder, child abuse, injury with intent, and failing to seek medical care; sentenced to 17 years to life.

Sources:
Named: Woman who abused, neglected and bashed her child to death
Mum who abused, neglected then murdered her own daughter can now be named
Southern Thompson Name Suppression Lift A Reminder Of NZ’s Atrocious Child Abuse Statistics

Patricia Maulder

No Photo Name: Patricia Anne Maulder.
Died: January 14, 2017.
Age at death: 66.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Waipukurau, New Zealand.
Disability: Mental illness; chronic anxiety.

Details:
Patricia’s husband killed her before dying by suicide. His daughter-in-law thinks he believed Patricia would not be able to cope without him.

Patricia kept a neat garden. Before retirement, she and her husband had run a fish-and-chip shop.

Case Status:
Kevin Maulder (Husband), deceased.

Sources:
Murder-suicide couple ‘victims of mental health stigma’, coroner finds
Deceased Waipukurau couple named
Couple found dead in Waipukurau named

Ruby Knox

Photo of Ruby Knox. She is a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair and pale skin, wearing a black, white, and red shirt. Name: Ruby Isabella Knox.
Died: May 16, 2016.
Age at death: 20.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Blenheim, New Zealand.
Disability: Autism, intellectual disability, spina bifida.

Details:
Weeks before the murder, Ruby Knox’s mother self-published a book about caring for her disabled daughter. In it, she said that she had “thoughts of ‘blowing up the hospital’ or of taking ‘serious violent action’.”

Her mother made good on those statements when she drugged and then smothered Ruby to death.

In her book, Ruby’s mother briefly mentions Ruby playing on the piano.

A review of the services available to Ruby and her mother found they were adequate.

Case status:
Donella Knox (Mother), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 4 years, scheduled to be released after less than two years.

Source:
The one voice that might have saved Ruby Knox
Blenheim mum Donella Knox jailed for murdering autistic daughter Ruby
Mother jailed for murder of autistic daughter
The Big Read: Case of Donella Knox who murdered autistic daughter Ruby a ‘once in a generation case’
Donella Knox published harrowing book a month before murdering autistic daughter
Blenheim woman Donella Knox details the struggles caring for her autistic daughter
Blenheim mother murdered autistic daughter after tolerating years of abuse
Protest for parents of autistic children after Donella Knox sentencing
Supporters plan protest to get Donella Knox out of jail and improve services after she murdered her autistic daughter
Murder of disabled daughter a ‘once in a generation’ case
Outrage as mum who murdered autistic daughter is jailed for four years
Autism Memorial: Ruby Knox
Autistic girl’s murder sparks external review
Blenheim woman Donella Knox shuts down protests, wants to ‘move on’
Donella Knox: A mother forced to fight for too long
Independent review of Donella and Ruby Knox’s treatment set for May
Donella Knox who killed autistic daughter is jailed
Autism NZ calls for respite care overhaul after Donella Knox case
On Donella Knox, her disabled daughter, and the so-called ‘mercy killing’
No Excusing the Murder of Autistics!
Health service review prompted by murder of autistic daughter to begin
Ruby Knox murder case: DHB reveals review details
Review of disability services about to start following Ruby Knox murder
‘Mercy killing’ mother Donella Knox to read review prompted by daughter’s death
Review prompted by Ruby Knox murder blasts NZ’s disability care
Mum who killed autistic daughter to be released from prison

Jermain Ngawhau

Name: Jermain Mason Ngawhau.
Died: December 18, 2015.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Clendon Park, Auckland, New Zealand.
Disability: Developmental delay.

Details:
Jermain’s grandmother was angry that he was having trouble walking; so she threw him down the hallway, causing a head injury that killed him. She then tried to blame his death on his four-year-old sister.

Case status:
Kathleen Elizabeth Cooper (Grandmother), convicted of murder, sentenced to 14-and-a-half years to life.

Source:
Grandma Accused Of Killing Grandson, Blaming It On His 4-Year-Old Sister
‘A very bleak picture’: High Court told of meth use in Auckland grandmother’s murder trial
Grandmother admits killing grandson but denies murder
Jermain Mason (Tiger) NGAWHAU’s Obituary
Murder-accused grandmother ‘never aggressive’, says dead boy’s mother
Grandma accused of murder was loved by grandson – mother
Cooper trial: Mother of dead toddler takes the stand
Jury begins deliberations in case of grandmother accused of murdering grandson
Grandma guilty of grandson’s murder
Grandmother Kathleen Cooper found guilty of murdering grandson
Kathleen Cooper murder case raises questions around whanau first principle
Life imprisonment for woman who killed grandson

Bruce Rangitutia

Name: Bruce Tau Rangitutia.
Died: December 8, 2015.
Age at death: 55.
Cause of death: Head injury, pneumonia, starvation.
Location: Tokoroa, North Island, New Zealand.
Disability: Cerebral palsy, intellectual disability.

Details:
When Bruce’s mother died, he went to live with his brother and sister-in-law, who abused and neglected him. He shrank to 45.7 kilos and was hospitalized after entering a coma. After being stabilized, he was supposed to go to a rehabilitation facility; but his brother and sister-in-law refused this once they realized they would no longer receive money for caring for him; so he went back to live with them. They went right back to neglecting him, including denying him his regular medication. Confined to bed because of malnutrition and unexplained injuries from blunt-force trauma that were likely caused by abuse, he was unable to get food for himself, and his caregivers ignored his cries for food and water. He died of a combination of head injury, pneumonia, bedsores, and starvation.

Case status:
Jovander Raymond Terry (Adoptive brother), pleaded guilty to ill treatment of a vulnerable adult, sentenced to 6 years 7 months; released after serving 3 years.
Annie Mathews (Sister-in-law), pleaded guilty to ill treatment of a vulnerable adult and failing to seek medical care, sentenced to 4 years 10 1/2 months.

Source:
Just three years for man who starved disabled brother to death
A Tokoroa couple have been jailed after starving a man with cerebral palsy to death – 23-Sep-2019 – NZ Law and Order news
Vulnerable man who drank own urine spends last hours ‘constantly moaning and calling for food and water’
Vulnerable man starved by carers died weighing 6st after begging for food
Tokoroa couple admit starving man with cerebral palsy before he died
View Bruce RANGITUTIA’s Notice on nzherald.co.nz and share memories