Category: No Photo

Donna Spadea

No PhotoName: Donna Spadea.
Died: June 26, 2005.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Poisoning.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Intellectual disability.

Details:
Along with several other intellectually disabled adults, Donna was imprisoned, starved, drugged, and beaten by Linda Weston, who acted as her Social Security payee so that she could steal Donna’s money. Donna died after two months of captivity while she was imprisoned in a tiny laundry room, and toxicology testing revealed that she had been poisoned with the drugs Linda had regularly mixed into her food.

Case status:
Linda Weston (Caretaker), multiple charges, life sentence + 80 years.
Gregory Thomas, charged with hate crimes.
Jean McIntosh, pleaded guilty, sentenced to 40 years.
Eddie Wright, pleaded guilty, sentenced to 27 years.
Nicklaus Woodard, pleaded guilty to several charges, including conspiracy, kidnapping and using a firearm in an act of violence, sentenced to 27 years.

Source:
‘Tacony dungeon’ woman who imprisoned disabled adults gets life sentence + 80 years
Daughter of Tacony dungeon ‘mastermind’ gets 40 years – Metro Philadelphia
Tacony ‘dungeon’ case ends with admission of hate crimes against disabled
Seven years after rescue, ‘Tacony dungeon’ victims confront tormentor sentenced to 40 years
‘Pastor Wright,’ codefendant in Tacony dungeon case, gets 27 years in prison
“Basement of horrors” indictment brings light to 2008 Norfolk death
‘Tacony dungeon’ woman who imprisoned disabled adults gets life sentence + 80 years

Patrick Markcrow

No PhotoName: Patrick Markcrow.
Died: March 29, 2005.
Age at death: 36.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.
Disability: Down syndrome, autism.

Details:
Patrick’s mother drugged him and then suffocated him with a plastic bag.

He attended a day center where carers described Patrick as “a loving, private man”, who enjoyed swimming and going to a local coffee shop.

Case status:
Wendolyn Markcrow (Mother); pled guilty to manslaughter; given a 2-year suspended sentence.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Patrick Markcrow
Mother who killed son with Down’s syndrome gets suspended sentence

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

Betsy H.

No PhotoName: Betsy H.
Died: January 2, 2005.
Age at death: 51.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Hardenberg, Netherlands.
Disability: Intellectual disability, epilepsy.

Details:
For Betsy’s birthday, family and friends came to visit, but she cried through the afternoon. After the party guests had left, she had an epileptic seizure, during which her mother suffocated her with a pillow. Betsy’s mother confessed to the police afterward, but later claimed that she could not remember what she had done.

Case Status:
Margje H. (Mother), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 21 months in prison less time served.

Source:
Vrouw (80) verdacht van moord op gehandicapte dochter
Tachtigjarige doodde gehandicapte dochter – Blik op de Wereld
ECLI:NL:RBZLY:2005:AT4833, voorheen LJN AT4833, Rechtbank Zwolle-Lelystad, 07/400001-05

Karen Dreager

No PhotoName: Karen Elizabeth Dreager.
Died: August 31, 2004.
Age at death: 35.
Cause of death: Malnutrition.
Location: Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Karen was neglected by her family. She died of starvation, weighing 50 pounds, down from 200 pounds, covered in severe and untreated bedsores.

Case status:
Debra McMahon (Adoptive sister), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 15 years.
Paul McMahon (Brother-in-law), sentenced to 6 years.
Kimberly McMahon (Niece), charged with first-degree murder.

Source:
History of euthanasia in Canada
The Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities:
Murder charges for family in Oak Ridge starvation case
Family charged in starvation of kin
Woman Starved to Death
Family Charged in Starving Disabled Woman

“Baby C”

No PhotoName: “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.

Source:
Complaint from family over Baby C

Mia Depaillat

No PhotoName: Mia Depaillat.
Died: April 18, 2004.
Age at death: 21 months.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Cumming, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Developmental delay.

Details:
Mia died of injuries that her mother claimed had been caused when she had accidentally dropped Mia and she fell down a flight of stairs. However, the injuries Mia had sustained matched shaken baby syndrome, not a fall down stairs. Mia died two days afterward.

Case status:
Jill Ellen Depaillat (Mother), charged with murder; hung jury; mistrial.

Source:
Pound Pup Legacy: Mia Depaillat

Ida Heginbotham

No PhotoName: Ida Heginbotham.
Died: April 1, 2004.
Age at death: 87.
Cause of death: Blood loss.
Location: Preesall, Lancashire, England, UK.
Disability: Dementia, arthritis, hip replacements.

Details:
Ida’s husband cut her throat because he didn’t want her to be transferred to a dementia ward.

She was “a keen horsewoman” and the mother of six children.

Case status:
Bernard Heginbotham (Husband), pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility; given a 12-month community rehabilitation order and released.

Source:
Wheelchair-bound pensioner, 96, becomes one of UK’s oldest murder suspects
100-year-old cut his ailing wife’s throat in ‘act Husband, 100, spared jail for ‘act of love’ killing
Freedom for 100-year-old who killed his wife
BRITAIN’S OLDEST KILLER DIES AGE 102

Scott Olsen

No PhotoName: Scott Olsen.
Died: December 7, 2003.
Age at death: 29.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Blind and quadriplegic after brain injury.

Details:
Scott’s sister deliberately starved him to death.

Case status:
Kimberly Loebig (Sister); pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter; sentenced to 60 days, freed on time served.

Source:
Sis Charged In Brother Starve Case
GUILTY – PA – Scott Olsen, 29, quadriplegic, starved to death, Glenshaw, 7 Dec 2003