Relationship: Offspring – Page 26 – Disability Day of Mourning

Irene Ritchie

No Photo Name: Irene Agnes Ritchie.
Died: February 14, 2002.
Age at death: 87.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Mount Ousley, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Heart disease, blindness; frail elder.

Details:
Irene was smothered by her son, who initially hid her body and reported her missing. Once arrested by suspicious authorities, he confessed to the crime and told them where to find her body.

At trial, the judge commented that he did not believe the murder had been a mercy killing, and that Irene’s son simply “did not like living with an elderly woman in constant pain”.

Case Status:
Geoffrey Robert Ritchie (Adopted son), convicted of murder, sentenced to 11 years 9 months to 15 years.

Sources:
R v Ritchie [2003] NSWSC 864 (19 September 2003)
15 years jail for son who suffocated terminally ill mother

Florence Simpson

No Photo 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

Joyce George

Name: Joyce May George.
Died: April 24, 2000.
Age at death: 86.
Cause of death: Pneumonia secondary to malnutrition and pressure sores.
Location: Windsor, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Osteoporosis, hyperthyroidism, atrial fibrillation, chronic constipation, depression and mild dementia.

Details:
Joyce was left in place on her bed, allowing large pressure sores to develop and become infected. By the time her son and main caregiver called medics, she was malnourished and dehydrated and her condition was too poor to survive; she died 4 days later in the hospital.

Case Status:
Phillip George (Son), found guilty of manslaughter by criminal negligence, sentenced to 2-3 years.

Sources:
R v George [2004] NSWCCA 247 (19 August 2004)

Joy Martin

Photo of Joy Martin, an elderly woman with light skin and straight gray hair. The photo shows only the left half of the face. 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.

Source:
Lesley Martin jailed for 15 months

Mary Carlson

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

Layton Myers

No Photo Name: Layton Myers.
Died: May 15, 1993.
Age at death: 67.
Cause of death: Smothered.
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Disability: Terminal cancer.

Details:
Layton Myers was killed by his daughter and her husband, who put a pillow over his face and smothered him.

Case status:
Michael Power (Daughter’s common-law husband), pled guilty to manslaughter and were given suspended sentences, three years’ probation, and 150 hours of community service.
Cheryl Myers (Daughter), pled guilty to manslaughter and were given suspended sentences, three years’ probation, and 150 hours of community service.

Source:
No jail for N.S. “mercy-killers”
Of Life and Death – Appendices D-L
Robert Latimer: Justice gone awry

Diana Robles

Name: Diana Maureen Weiland Robles.
Died: April 18, 1993.
Age at death: 44.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Bartlett, Illinois, USA.
Disability: Mobility impaired due to polio; used crutches.

Details:
Diana’s son offered his classmate $100 to kill her and her husband Peter. Her son held her down while the other man stabbed her to death.

Case status:
Eric Robles (Son), sentenced to 1oo years.
Sean Helgesen (hired killer), sentenced to 90 years.

Source:
ROBLES SENTENCED TO LIFE
Appellate court upholds 90-year sentence for Bartlett double murder by teen
Diana M. Robles (1948-1993) – Find A Grave
People v. Helgeson, 2020 IL

Louisa Maier

No Photo Name: Louisa Maier.
Died: November 12, 1991.
Age at death: 87.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Dunkirk, New York, USA.
Disability: Elder assisted-living home resident.

Details:
Louisa’s son went to her assisted living facility on the pretense that they were going out for a day’s visit. He put her in his car and strangled her to death; then he went home and hung himself.

Case status:
Joseph A. Maier (Son), deceased.

Source:
Triple deaths stun campus in Fredonia Professor kills mother, self; another dies of heart attack
Deaths being probed as murder-suicide; Fredonia professor, mother die

Esta Millwee

Name: Esta Iona Weathers Millwee.
Died: September 8, 1986.
Age at death: 52.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Riverside County, California, USA.
Disability: Stroke, hemiplegia.

Details:
Esta’s son came home drunk and argued with her husband. After her husband left, her son shot Esta.

Case Status:
Donald Millwee (Son), convicted of murder, sentenced to death, died in prison.

Source:
Donald Millwee, Condemned California Inmate Who Killed Disabled Mother, Dies Of Natural Causes
California inmate dies while on death row for killing mother
Esta Iona Weathers Millwee (1933-1986) – Find A Grave