Remembering the Disabled Murdered by Caregivers
Name: Cassandra Taine Killpack.
Died: June 10, 2002.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Water intoxication.
Location: Springville, Utah, USA.
Disability: Reactive attachment disorder.
Details:
Cassandra’s adoptive parents forced her to drink so much water that she died of water poisoning.
Case status:
Jennete Killpack (Adoptive mother), child abuse, 1 to 15 years in prison (served 6 years).
Richard Killpack, acquitted.
Source:
Cassandra Taine Killpack
Name: Andy Byron Scott.
Age at death: 41.
Name: Michael Randy Scott.
Age at death: 42.
Died: June 8, 2002.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Spalding County, Georgia, USA.
Disability: Huntington’s disease.
Details:
Andy and Michael’s mother went to their nursing home and shot them.
Case status:
Carol Carr (Mother), pleaded guilty to assisted suicide, sentenced to 5 years in prison.
(There is no evidence that the two men ever asked their mother to help them commit suicide; she seems to have been the one who decided they should not live any longer. –Ed.)
Source:
Carol Carr
Name: Amber Haigh.
Died: June 5, 2002 (Missing).
Age at death: 19.
Cause of death: Missing, presumed dead.
Location: Kingsvale, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Details:
Amber, who lived with an older couple, vanished in June 2002, leaving her six-month-old baby behind. In 2011, a coronial inquest declared her dead as a result of “homicide or other misadventure”. It took until 2020 for the couple she had been living with to be arrested and charged with her murder, but a trial ended in acquittal. Amber’s body has still not been found.
Amber’s parents remember her as a kind, loving soul who would help anyone who needed her, and as a dedicated mother who would never have voluntarily left her son behind.
Case Status:
Robert Geeves, charged with aggravated sexual assault (victim with a serious intellectual disability) and murder, acquitted.
Anne Geeves, charged with murder, acquitted.
Sources:
Amber Haigh: Couple accused of killing teen to steal baby acquitted
Geeves couple acquitted of Amber Haigh cold case
Court hears of accusation of body being fed to pigs, calls from psychics as Amber Haigh trial nears its end
Missing teen Amber Haigh was ‘removed from the equation’ after giving birth, court told
Married couple accused of murdering teenage mother in 2002 plead not guilty
Wire tap caught cold case murder accused discussing young mum’s remains, court told
Couple charged over alleged murder of NSW teen who vanished nearly 20 years ago
Couple charged with murder of disabled teenage mum
Man and woman charged over the murder of Amber Haigh
Couple charged with murder 20 years after young mum Amber Haigh vanished
Two charged with missing NSW teen’s murder
Name: Mitchell Dickson.
Died: June 4, 2002.
Age at death: 10.
Cause of death: Blood loss.
Location: Seymour, Texas, USA.
Disability: Autism.
Details:
Mitchell’s mother slashed him to death with razor blades and then tried to disguise it as a car accident.
Case status:
Melanie Rochelle Dickson (Mother); pled guilty to murder; sentenced to 15-30 years. Reported to have died in prison.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Mitchell Dickson
Mom Gets 30 Years In Prison For Son’s Murder
Name: Gloria Thomas Sam.
Died: May 8, 2002.
Age at death: 9 months.
Cause of death: Infection.
Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Chronic eczema.
Details:
Gloria had eczema, a skin condition that needed treatment; but her father, a homeopath, refused to take her to the doctor. They took the sick little girl with them to India and delayed her treatment because they were jet-lagged. By the time she was finally taken to the hospital, her skin had deteriorated to the point that an infection had taken over her body, and she died three days later.
Case Status:
Thomas Sam (Father), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 6 to 8 years, banned from practicing homeopathy.
Majnu Sam (Mother), convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to 4 years to 5 years 4 months.
Sources:
Parents put social life before baby
Parents jailed over baby’s death
Baby Gloria’s parents jailed
Name Unknown.
Died: March 12, 2002.
Age at death: 50s.
Cause of death: Blunt trauma.
Location: New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Intellectual disability, fronto-temporal dementia.
Details:
This man, whose name was not released, had a life-long intellectual disability, but began needing full-time care in his fifties, so he moved in with his father, his niece, and her baby son. His dementia had become quite severe, resulting in behavioral disinhibition, when he became confused and masturbated in the presence of his niece’s baby. She reacted by beating and kicking him to death.
He was a Vietnam veteran who worked stocking shelves before the dementia forced him to retire.
Case Status:
KMB (Niece), sentenced to 3-7 years.
Name: Olga Emily Law.
Died: March 6, 2002.
Age at death: 73.
Cause of death: Asphyxia.
Location: Thames, New Zealand.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.
Details:
Olga’s husband drugged her with sleeping pills, bludgeoned her with a hammer, and then smothered her.
Case status:
Rex Arthur Law (Husband), pleaded guilty to murder, sentenced to 18 months in prison, with the possibility of applying for home confinement.
Source:
Wife killer sealed his deed with a kiss
The Queen v Rex Arthur Law
‘Honourable man’ faces 9 months’ jail
Name: Lilian Leilani Gill.
Died: March 1, 2002.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Homicide.
Location: San Bernardino, California, USA.
Disability: Mother claimed she was autistic.
Details:
Lillian was killed by her mother, who then claimed that Lilian had been sent to a special school to be treated for her autism. Lilian was later found buried in the backyard.
Case status:
Sharon Michelle Gill (Adoptive mother), pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, sentenced to “almost 14” years in prison and 5 years probation.
Source:
Autism Memorial: Lilian Leilani Gill
Lillian Leilani Gill
Woman gets prison for child’s killing in 2002
Remains found of missing girl
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
Name: Michael James “Mike” Snyder.
Died: January 11, 2002.
Age at death: 43.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
Disability: Multiple sclerosis.
Details:
Mike was shot by his wife during an argument; he was unarmed. His body, buried under a concrete slab in his backyard, was not found for eight years.
Case Status:
Ellen Snyder (Wife), pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a firearm, tax fraud, and tampering with evidence, sentenced to 11 years and released on parole after 8 years. Could not be charged with second-degree murder since the statute of limitations had run out.