Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Child by birth or adoption.
Name: Pamela Camille Hall.
Died: April 11, 2009.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Figsboro, Virginia, USA.
Disability: Spinal cord injury.
Details:
Pamela was stabbed to death by her son-in-law.
Case status:
James Cleveland Miller (Son-in-law) pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life.
Source:
Miller pleads guilty to murder in death of his mother-in-law
Name: Katherine Mudski.
Died: June 3, 2008.
Age at death: 73.
Cause of death: Malnutrition, infection.
Location: Flint, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Breast cancer.
Details:
Katherine’s son neglected her, and she died from a combination of malnutrition, dehydration, and infected bedsores.
Two years before Katherine’s death, she called a mailman into her home and asked him to help. The mailman called the police, who came to the house, stayed for 13 minutes, and did nothing to help Katherine.
Case status:
Christopher A. Mudski (Son), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 316 days time served. Arrested later for similarly neglecting his cousin, who was hospitalized.
Source:
911 tapes show police were called by mailman months before Katherine Mukdsi’s death; son faces murder charges for alleged neglect
Man convicted in mother’s death accused in similar neglect case
Elder abuse cases bring big charges, offenders actually receive lesser sentences
Flint Township man will stand trial for murder in neglect case involving his elderly mother
Name: Sarah Grupstein.
Died: September 19, 2007.
Age at death: 84.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Stroke, mobility impaired (Wheelchair user), diabetes, heart disease.
Details:
Sarah was shot by her son in a murder-suicide.
Case status:
Percy Stein (Son), deceased.
Source:
History of euthanasia in Canada
Sarah Grupstein’s Obituary on National Post
Cancer-stricken man commits murder-suicide
`We weep for their pain,’ rabbi says at murder-suicide funeral
Murder or mercy?
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: 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
Name: Evelyn Joel.
Died: January 7, 2006.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Pneumonia.
Location: Enniscorthy, Ireland.
Disability: Multiple sclerosis.
Details:
Evelyn’s health rapidly declined while she was in the care of her family. By the time she was hospitalized with multiple infected bedsores, she was too weak to recover when she caught pneumonia.
Case status:
Eleanor Joel (Daughter) and Jonathan Costen (Daughter’s husband), convicted of manslaughter; given two-year suspended sentence; sentence overturned because the health care workers involved in Evelyn’s care had not been summoned to testify at trial.
Source:
Court quashes couple’s convictions for killing Evelyn Joel
Couple will not face retrial over death of MS sufferer
Court quashes couple’s convictions for killing Evelyn Joel
Couple who left MS sufferer, Evelyn Joel, to die in her own filth receive suspended sentence
Ma neglect killer walk free from court
Appeal by couple convicted of letting MS sufferer die with ‘maggots in her infected bedsores’
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.
Name: Dalton Gilmer.
Died: July 5, 2004 (Body found).
Age at death: 63.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Fletcher, North Carolina, USA.
Disability: Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s.
Details:
Dalton lived in a psychiatric hospital. His son arranged for him to be moved to a facility closer to home, picked him up, and instead of taking him to the new facility, strangled him and dumped his body at the side of the road.
Case Status:
Vince Gilmer (Son); sentenced to life; spent 17 years in prison. Compassionate release after developing Huntington’s disease.
Sources:
MSGT Dalton Donald “Don” Gilmer Jr. (1940-2004)
Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde
The Unusual, Unsettling Crimes of the Other Dr. Gilmer
Hospital transfer being considered for physician serving life sentence for killing, mutilating his father
Name: Mary Esther Sawyer.
Died: June 21, 2004.
Age at death: 79.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Latrobe, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: Dementia.
Details:
Mary’s daughter checked her out of her nursing home, took her home, drugged her, and suffocated her with a pillow.
Case status:
Rita Ann Sawyer (Daughter), convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to life in prison.
Source:
U.S. court rejects plea for new trial by midstate doctor convicted of killing mom
Name: Clothilde D’Auteuil.
Died: July 21, 2002.
Age at death: 78.
Cause of death: Murder.
Location: Rimouski, Quebec, Canada.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.
Details:
Clothilde lived at a nursing home and her son visited her. When the nursing home told him that he needed to stop visiting her because she became agitated when he visited, he went to the nursing home, strangled her to death, and beat up several aides with a metal bar.
She was the widow of a doctor who had died two years before, and had three sons and three grandsons.
Case status:
Alain Quimper (Son), pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 14 years to life.
Source:
History of euthanasia in Canada
Supreme Court of Canada Bulletin of Proceedings
Alfred QUIMPER
Condamné pour le meurtre de sa mère malade – Quimper veut un nouveau procès
Un homme de 46 ans est accusé du meurtre de sa mère