Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Name: Daniel “Danny” Leubner.
Died: September 4, 1999.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Smoke inhalation.
Location: Auburn, New York, USA.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Danny died by smoke inhalation in a house fire deliberately set by his mother.
Case status:
Michelle Davis (Mother). Pled guilty to manslaughter; sentenced to six years.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Daniel Leubner
Justice for Danny
Cayuga County child killer back in court
Name: Peggy Lynn Johnson.
Died: July 21, 1999.
Age at death: 23.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: Racine County, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Details:
After the death of her mother, 18-year-old Peggy went to a nearby hospital and asked for help. There, a nurse took her in. But her new caregiver abused Peggy, yelling at her, starving her, and beating her; once she attacked Peggy with a pitchfork. Peggy was made to live in a crawl space, and banished there whenever she wasn’t doing chores. After years of abuse, Peggy died from sepsis pneumonia due to her many injuries.
Peggy’s body was found dumped on the side of the road, but she could not be identified for many years. She was known as the “Racine County Jane Doe”, and nearby residents bought her a gravestone. It wasn’t until 2019 that a tipster reported overhearing the nurse talking about having killed someone and called the police, who arrested the nurse and identified Peggy as the victim who had long gone unidentified. When she was finally identified and journalists went to photograph her gravestone, they found that a member of the community had been there and left some flowers, a balloon, and a little wooden sign with Peggy’s real name. It had been a full 20 years since her murder.
Case status:
Linda La Roche (Caregiver), convicted of convicted of first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse; sentenced to life without parole plus five years.
Source:
Watch now: Life in prison for woman convicted of killing Peggy Lynn Johnson-Schroeder
LaRoche Sentenced to Life in Prison for 1999 ‘Jane Doe’ Murder
Former Nurse Gets Life Sentence For Torturing, Murdering Her Disabled Nanny In 1999
Former McHenry nurse convicted in cold case murder of disabled woman found brutally tortured
Murder of Peggy Johnson
Racine County ‘Jane Doe’ identified, nurse arrested in 1999 murder
Nurse arrested for killing mentally-ill woman’ found dead 20 years ago
Woman arrested for 1999 murder of Jane Doe found in cornfield; victim suffered ‘barbaric brutality,’ sheriff says
Horrific details emerge in ‘barbaric’ murder of 1999 Jane Doe
Cape Coral nurse arrested for killing disabled woman 20 years ago
McHenry woman identified as victim of 1999 cold case murder in Wisconsin
Name: Louise Papeman.
Died: February 21, 1999.
Age at death: 88.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Pearl River, New York, USA.
Disability: Kidney disease, depression.
Details:
On her 88th birthday, Louise’s husband shot her with a rifle.
Case status:
Walter Papeman (Husband), sentenced to 1 year.
Source:
Mercy killings: After Westchester Medical Center deaths, a look at similar deaths
MAN, 86, KILLS SICK WIFE, 88: COPS
METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW YORK; Retired Plumber Held In Killing of His Wife
Police: Man Kills Ailing Wife On Her 88th Birthday
What is mercy killing? Does Richard DeLucia’s murder-suicide qualify?
Name: Julie Jensen.
Died: December 3, 1998.
Age at death: 40.
Cause of death: Antifreeze poisoning.
Location: Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Depression.
Details:
Julie died from antifreeze poisoning. Before her death, she had sent a letter to a friend in which she explained that she was worried about her husband’s behavior, and to suspect him if she died. When her husband was arrested, he claimed that Julie had killed herself because of her depression. While prosecutors pointed out that Julie’s husband had discussed poisoning his wife with co-workers and fellow prisoners in jail, and had searched the Internet for information on poisoning and murdering one’s spouse, defense attorneys claimed Julie had killed herself and framed her husband.
Julie’s husband had the means to hire private lawyers, so the case has been a complex one. Though he was initially convicted and sentenced to life, the verdict was overturned after lawyers argued that the letter which Julie had written to her friend was inadmissible as evidence due to being “hearsay”. In circuit court, the verdict was reinstated; but in appeals court, that decision was reversed and the case sent back to circuit court. More than twenty years after Julie’s death, her husband is now getting a new trial on the same murder charge.
Case Status:
Mark Jensen (Husband), convicted of first degree murder, sentenced to life without parole; verdict overturned, new trial granted; convicted of murder, sentenced to life without parole.
Sources:
Wisconsin man convicted by second jury in antifreeze murder of wife
Wisconsin man again found guilty of killing wife with antifreeze at retrial
Wisconsin man’s retrial begins in wife’s antifreeze death
A ‘letter from the grave’ and a 2-decade long legal battle: 20-year-old murder case goes back to a jury
Mark Jensen Kenosha murder trial: Childhood friend of Jensen’s son takes stand
Second trial date set in Jensen murder case
Murder of Julie Jensen
Name: Lenka Orlikova.
Died: August 29, 1998.
Age at death: 14.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Brain damage from meningitis.
Details:
Lenka was stabbed to death by her father. He also tried to kill her mother, who survived. Her twin sister was unhurt.
Case status:
Oto Orlik (Father), convicted of murder, sentenced to life term.
Source:
ORLIK’S OTHER DAUGHTER TAKES WITNESS STAND.(Local/Wisconsin)
ORLIK GETS LIFE TERM FOR KILLING DAUGHTER RESEARCHER SANE, JURY SAYS.(Local/State)
Stabbing Death Charges
Family wants to see accused dad
Name: Tausha Lee Lanham.
Died: April 19, 1998.
Age at death: 7.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Burgettstown, Washington County, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Prematurity, developmental delays.
Details:
Tausha’s mother kept her restrained and starved her to death. She was seven years old, but weighed less than twelve pounds, when she died.
Case status:
Michelle Tharp (Mother), first-degree murder, death sentence.
Source:
Under a rock, near some water
Michelle Tharp’s attorneys say she should not face death for starving daughter
Michelle Tharp | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers
Name: Orachanee Anderson.
Died: January 15, 1998.
Age at death: 22.
Cause of death: Long-term trauma, starvation.
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Details:
Orachanee’s stepfather and mother beat and starved her to death.
Case status:
John Hester, Sr. (Stepfather), found guilty of murder, death sentence, commuted to life in prison.
Peggy Anderson (Mother), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Source:
Father guilty in death of disabled stepchild
Death Penalty archive
Name: Thy Chan.
Died: August 19, 1997.
Age at death: 16.
Cause of death: Viral encephalitis.
Location: Oxford, Massachusetts, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.
Details:
Thy (pronounced “tea”) came from Cambodia and lived in a foster home in the United States. Her foster parents were parents in name only; they took in children for the money, sometimes locked them in dog cages, abused and neglected them. Severely disabled children were cared for by other children rather than by their foster parents. Thy’s foster sister Jessica remembers seeing Thy horribly sick with a temperature of 106–something her foster mother, a nurse, would have recognized as serious–for two days before anyone called for an ambulance. Thy died of viral encephalitis in the hospital a few days later.
Thy’s death was put down to natural causes. However, years later when four former foster children came forward to report that they had been physically and sexually abused by their foster parents, they also testified that Thy had died from the same neglect they had all been subjected to.
Case status:
Susan Blouin (Foster mother), charged with indecent assault and battery, nursing license revoked.
Raymond Blouin (Foster father), charged with indecent assault and battery.
Philip Paquette (Susan Blouin’s ex-boyfriend), charged with statutory rape.
Source:
Man arraigned on child rape charges after foster home abuse investigation
Foster child died in troubled Oxford foster home in 1997
New charges issued in foster family abuse case
Former Oxford foster children file $40M lawsuit against couple, state over “house of horrors”
Name: Mary Lynn Carlson.
Died: April 21, 1997.
Age at death: 53.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Maricopa County, Arizona, USA.
Disability: Multiple Sclerosis.
Details:
Mary Lynn’s son and daughter-in-law had promised to care for her in exchange for room and board, but instead neglected her and spent her money. When Lynn moved into an assisted-living facility, they took out a life-insurance policy on her and hired two fellow lodgers to kill her. They stabbed her to death.
Case status:
Doris Ann Carlson (Daughter-in-law), convicted of murder, sentenced to death; sentence reduced to life without parole.
David Carlson (Son), conspiracy to commit murder, life sentence.
Scott Smith, second degree murder, 10 years.
John McReaken, first degree murder, life sentence.
Source:
Woman Hires Men to Brutally Kill Bedridden Mother-in-Law with Multiple Sclerosis
Darling Doris was a Deadly Daughter-in-law
Doris Carlson | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers
Name: Jeanette Williams.
Died: March 24, 1997.
Age at death: 47.
Cause of death: Stabbing.
Location: Harris County, Texas, USA.
Disability: Paraplegic.
Details:
Jeanette lived with a couple she considered friends. They took out a life insurance policy on her and hired a man to kill her. They brought Jeanette to be ambushed by the hired killer, who stabbed Jeanette to death.
Case status:
Bruce Gillmore (Housemate), convicted of murder, sentenced to life.
Michelle Gillmore (Housemate), convicted of murder, sentenced to life.
Richard Williams (Hired killer), convicted of murder, sentenced to death, executed February 25, 2003.
Source:
Richard Head WILLIAMS