Relationship: Partner – Page 46 – Disability Day of Mourning

Michelle Stewart

Name: Michelle Stewart.
Died: November 14, 2008.
Age at death: 17.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: Drongan, East Ayrshire, Scotland.
Disability: Club feet.

Details:
Michelle had a boyfriend, but broke up with him because she wanted to go to university.

Michelle’s ex-boyfriend killed her with a knife. She died in her mother’s arms.

Case status:
John Wilson (Ex-boyfriend), convicted of murder, sentenced to 12 years to life; granted community release after he served 9 years.

Source:
Fury as killer gets out after just 9 years
Father of Ayrshire girl, 17, hacked to death in bloodbath horror furious as killer to get home leave after serving just NINE years
Murder victim’s father demands justice system reform
Call for justice reform as Michelle Stewart’s killer gets out
Expert claims it’s ‘extremely unlikely’ killer who hacked Ayrshire girl, 17, to death will be allowed to step foot in victim’s family neighbourhood

Name: Eileen Martin.
Died: November 10, 2008.
Age at death: 76.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Davyhulme, Greater Manchester, England, UK.
Disability: Vascular dementia.

Details:
Eileen’s husband killed her by hitting her in the head before committing suicide.

Case status:
Ken Martin (Husband), deceased.

Source:
Shock over tragedy of ‘devoted couple’
Families REJECT claims a mystery serial killer slaughtered their elderly relatives and insist it was murder-suicide
Elderly husband killed dementia-suffering wife and himself ‘so she didn’t become a burden on family’

Margaret Benjo

No Photo Name: Margaret Mary “Peggy” Benjo.
Died: June 5, 2008.
Age at death: 76.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Deltona, Florida, USA.
Disability: Chronic illness, dementia; disabled elder.

Details:
Peggy was shot to death by her husband.

Case status:
Robert Benjo (Husband), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to two years house arrest and 13 years probation.

Source:
Elderly Deltona man charged in wife’s murder, saying she no longer had will to live
Deltona man, 82, pleads guilty to killing wife
Mercy or Murder? Man Kills Dying Wife
Sheriff: Elderly husband charged in Deltona wife’s murder earlier today — accused says wife no longer had will to live with illness
Deltona man, 82, gets suspended sentence for killing his ailing wife

Sonya Todd

Name: Sonya Todd.
Died: March 23, 2008.
Age at death: 21.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury and diabetic crisis.
Location: Methil, Fife, Scotland, UK.
Disability: Diabetes, asthma.

Details:
Sonya’s boyfriend beat her during a diabetic episode; the injuries he inflicted on her, in addition to the diabetic crisis, were enough to kill.

She was an academically talented young woman who liked doing volunteer work. She left behind a six-year-old daughter.

Case status:
David Craige (Partner), pleaded guilty to culpable homicide, sentenced to 6 years. Released; now dating another woman with a disability.

Source:
Killer who beat mum to death with dog chain free and has ‘vulnerable’ girlfriend
Horror find at Methil flat
Man jailed for dog chain killing
Jealous Fife man jailed for killing girlfriend
Grieving dad’s anger as daughter’s killer gets six years

Sharon Birchwood

Photo of Sharon Birchwood, a woman with fair skin and straight, shoulder-length gray hair; she is wearing a black dress and smiling for the camera. Name: Sharon Birchwood.
Died: December 7, 2007.
Age at death: 52.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Ashtead, England, UK.
Disability: Myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Details:
Sharon was tied up and strangled by a hit man hired by her husband. He had planned to claim her life insurance, sell her house, and flee the country.

Case status:
Graham Birchwood (husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to 29 years, died in prison.
Paul Cryne (Hitman), convicted of murder, sentenced to 28-and-a-half years, died in prison.

Source:
Man who ordered hitman to kill disabled ex-wife dies in prison
Documentary unravels Sharon Birchwood murder plot
Hunt on for killer of woman
Murder accused ‘calm and relaxed’ at death scene
Sharon Birchwood’s chilling message from the grave predicting her own murder
Sharon Birchwood’s brutal murder led police to Thailand in shocking kill plot

Mara Tani

No Photo
Name: Mara Tani.
Died: December 1, 2007.
Age at death: 82.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Prato, Italy.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
Mara’s husband shot her in the head.

Case status:
Vitangelo Bini (Husband), convicted of aggravated murder, sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison, but will not serve any jail time because of his age. Committed suicide 6 months later.

Source:
Woman with Alzheimer’s shot dead in hospital by husband, 77
Pensioner commits suicide

Criste Reimer

Photo of Criste Reimer, a middle-aged woman wearing glasses. She has pale skin and curly brown hair, cut short. She is smiling with her lips pressed together. Name: Criste Reimer .
Died: August 14, 2007.
Age at death: 47.
Cause of death: Fall injury.
Location: Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
Disability: Hydrocephalus, neurofibromatosis.

Details:
Criste’s husband threw her from a fourth-floor balcony to her death.

Case status:
Stanley Reimer (Husband), pled guilty to second-degree murder, sentenced to 25 years to life.

Source:
Sisters of woman thrown from balcony wanted to keep her away from husband

Janine Brockie

No Photo Name: Janine Penelope Brockie.
Died: May 10, 2007.
Age at death: 42.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Ringwood, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Disability: Stroke, TBI.

Details:
Janine was likely being physically abused by her partner in the year before her death. After one beating, in which Janine was punched and kicked, and then left in her bed for most of the next day without medical care, Janine died from a severe head injury.

Case Status:
Brian Robert Andrew (Partner), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 7-10 years in prison.

Sources:
R v Andrew [2008] VSC 138 (1 May 2008)
Man faces court over partner’s death
Bash killer gets 10 years

Janene Devine

Photo of Janene Devine, a middle-aged white woman with short brown hair. Name: Janene Devine.
Died: April 16, 2007.
Age at death: 48.
Cause of death: Infection, starvation.
Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Disability: Multiple sclerosis.

Details:
Janene’s husband, a registered nurse, did not want anyone else to help his wife. He refused placement at a care home for her, and even rejected an offer of free installation of a wheelchair ramp so that she could get out of the house, preferring to carry her instead. Then he neglected her so badly that she died from infected bedsores and starvation.

Case status:
Andrew Devine (Husband), pled guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 6 months to 1 year.

Source:
Inquest into the death of Janene Devine
Dead Mother ‘Looked Like A Skeleton’
Andrew Devine jailed over death of wife Janene, who suffered multiple sclerosis and weighed 30kg at her death
“Filthy and infested with vermin”
Man refused help for wife with MS

Samantha Collins

Name: Samantha Collins.
Died: March 22, 2007.
Age at death: 29.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada.
Disability: Epilepsy.

Details:
Samantha’s boyfriend hit her in the head and killed her; then he dismembered and hid her body.

She was the mother of a toddler son.

Case status:
Ian Charles Borbely (Boyfriend), convicted of second-degree murder and indignity to a body; sentenced to 17 years to life.

Source:
MANDEL: Muskoka murderer who cut up spouse’s body loses appeal
Borbely found guilty in Samantha Collins murder
Argument before eviction led to murder: Crown