Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Name: Sarah-Jane Dore.
Died: February 14, 2008.
Age at death: 26.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Western Southland, New Zealand.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Details:
Sarah-Jane’s father shot her, then killed himself.
Sarah-Jane was a powerlifter who competed in the 2007 Shanghai Special Olympics.
Case status:
Graeme Dore (Father), deceased.
Source:
Father, daughter shot dead
Find a Grave: Sarah-Jane Dore
Name: Elsie Patricia Crutchley.
Died: February 5, 2007.
Age at death: 77.
Cause of death: Poisoning.
Location: Taumarunui, New Zealand.
Disability: Terminal stomach cancer.
Details:
Elsie was poisoned by her son, with an overdose of painkillers and anxiolytics. She was dead within hours.
Case status:
Ian Crutchley (Son); convicted of attempted murder, sentenced to 6 months probation and 150 hours of community service.
Source:
Man who tried to kill mother avoids jail term
Man guilty of mother’s attempted murder
Man on trial for terminally ill mother’s death
Name: Britney Abbott.
Died: August 21, 2005.
Age at death: 9.
Cause of death: Car crash.
Location: Auckland, New Zealand.
Disability: Usher syndrome.
Details:
Britney and her little sister both had Usher syndrome. Their father put them in the car and drove off a mountain, killing Britney. Her little sister survived.
Case status:
Garth Duwayne Abbott (Father), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 4 1/2 years, released after serving 19 months.
Source:
Father found guilty of manslaughter
Charges ‘ridiculous’ says wife
Killer may not be deported
Parole may bar father from family
Family fights to stay in NZ
Sentencing for man who killed daughter
Mass of the Angels for Britney
Killer immigrant given work permit instead of deportation order
Name: “Baby C” (Female).
Died: May 2004.
Age at death: 5 months.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Nelson, New Zealand.
Disability: Lissencephaly.
Details:
When he learned that her diagnosis would cause lifelong severe disability, Baby C’s father smothered her.
Case status:
Her father; charged with manslaughter but acquitted, even though he confessed during the trial.
Name: Olga Law.
Died: March 6, 2002.
Age at death: 73.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Thames, New Zealand.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.
Details:
Olga’s husband drugged her with sleeping pills, bludgeoned her with a hammer, and then smothered her.
Case status:
Rex Arthur Law (Husband), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 18 months in prison, with the possibility of applying for home confinement.
Source:
Wife killer sealed his deed with a kiss
The Queen v Rex Arthur Law
‘Honourable man’ faces 9 months’ jail
Name: Florence Marjorie Simpson.
Died: October 3, 2000.
Age at death: 81.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Howick, New Zealand.
Disability: Terminal cancer.
Details:
Florence’s son drugged her and strangled her with the cord to her morphine pump.
Case status:
Christopher Simpson (Son), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 3 years.
Source:
Doctor jailed for killing his terminally ill mother
Doctor charged with strangling mother
Strangled mum full of morphine
The New Zealand Herald
Mercy Killing
Name: Annette Bouwer.
Died: January 5, 2000.
Age at death: 47.
Cause of death: Sedative and insulin poisoning.
Location: Dunedin, New Zealand.
Disability: Chronic kidney disease.
Details:
Annette was poisoned with sedatives and insulin by her husband, who had just taken out a life insurance policy on her.
Case status:
Colin Bouwer (Husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to 15 years to life, paroled after sixteen years.
Source:
Colin Bouwer
Colin Bouwer remains defiant over wife’s murder
Poison murderer Colin Bouwer: ‘I’m a changed man’
Psychiatrist who poisoned wife to be with lover died after being deported
Name: Jillian Thomas.
Died: October 4, 1999.
Age at death: 45.
Cause of death: Unspecified; possibly fire.
Location: Canterbury, New Zealand.
Disability: Multiple sclerosis.
Details:
Having found a new girlfriend, Jillian’s husband killed or incapacitated her before putting her body into the family car and setting it on fire.
Jillian had a Master’s degree in English and a teaching certificate; she worked for years teaching English and French.
Case status:
Kevin Harmer (Husband), convicted of murder, out on parole after 14 years in prison.
Source:
A killer in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens
Canterbury man jailed for burning his wife to death out on parole
Injustice Trust – Jillian Faye Thomas
The farmer, the dead wife, the escort and the murder trial
Wife killer Kevin Harmer released from prison
Name: Joy Martin.
Died: May 28, 1999.
Age at death: 69.
Cause of death: Morphine poisoning.
Location: Wanganui, New Zealand.
Disability: Terminal cancer.
Details:
As she lay dying of cancer, Joy’s daughter injected her with a lethal dose of morphine.
After Joy was dead, her daughter wrote a book about killing her mother and was arrested.
Joy’s portrait on this memorial comes from the cover of her daughter’s book. It includes only half her face because on the book’s cover, her daughter used photo manipulation to combine half her face with half of Joy’s. In keeping with my policy of giving the killer as little publicity as possible, the daughter’s part of that image has been cropped out. –Editor
Case status:
Lesley Martin (Daughter), convicted of attempted murder; sentenced to 15 months, released after serving half her sentence.
Name: Jim Helm.
Died: November 8, 1998.
Age at death: 27.
Cause of death: Unspecified; homicide.
Location: Nelson, New Zealand.
Disability: Down syndrome, Autism.
Details:
Jim’s mother killed him and herself because she was afraid of what would happen to him if she died.
Case status:
Nancy Helm (Mother), deceased.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Jim Helm
Jim Helm died at the hands of a loving mother who despaired of his future.