Status: Sentenced – Page 74 – Disability Day of Mourning

Brandy Ardon

No Photo Name: Brandy Ardon.
Died: March 6, 2011.
Age at death: 2 months.
Cause of death: Morphine poisoning, fire.
Location: Reno, Nevada, USA.
Disability: Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome.

Details:
Brandy’s mother drugged her with morphine; then she put the baby in a bag, took her to a field, doused her with gasoline, and burned her. The coroner confirmed that there was smoke in the baby’s lungs; she had been alive when she was set on fire.

Case status:
Suceli Ardon (Mother), pleaded guilty to arson, given time served and ordered to get 5 years of mental health counseling.

Source:
GUILTY NV – Randi Ardon, 2 mos, body found burned, Sparks, 6 March 2011
Police: Baby burned alive by mother in Nevada

Yasushi Yamamoto

No Photo Name: Yasushi Yamamoto.
Died: March 5, 2011.
Age at death: 77.
Cause of death: Unspecified homicide.
Location: Tokyo, Japan.
Disability: Unspecified mental illness.

Details:
Mr. Yamamoto’s family took him out of the hospital where he was being treated. His son, a doctor, killed him later that day. Prosecutors say that they considered Mr. Yamamoto to be “burdensome” because of his illness.

Case Status:
Junko Yamamoto (Wife), convicted of conspiracy to murder, sentenced to 11 years.
Naoki Yamamoto (Son), convicted of murder, sentenced to 13 years.
Yoshikazu Okubo (Doctor; acquaintance), charged with murder.

Sources:
Woman gets 11 yrs for murder of mentally ill husband with son’s help in Japan
Woman denies killing mentally ill husband with help of doctor son
Kyoto court hands ex-doctor 13 yrs in prison for murdering father
Doctors held over ‘mercy killing’ accused in another death

Rene Vera

No Photo Name: Rene Vera.
Died: March 2, 2011.
Age at death: 38.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Flushing, New York, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Rene was stabbed and smothered by his mother.

Case status:
Migdalia Vera (Mother), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 7 years.

Source:
A Queens Woman Is Accused of Murdering Her Ailing Son
Mom allegedly kills wheelchair-bound son
Sentenced to 7 years

Makayla Norman

Photo of Makayla Norman, a teen girl with brown skin and fuzzy black hair, sitting in a bean bag chair, with her head propped against a pillow. She is wearing jeans and a white T-shirt. Name: Makayla Norman.
Died: March 1, 2011.
Age at death: 14.
Cause of death: Malnutrition, sepsis.
Location: Dayton, Ohio, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Makayla’s mother had hired three nurses to help take care of her. Despite that, she managed to neglect Makayla so badly that she died of malnutrition and infected bedsores. The young girl spent her last years in a filthy, trash-ridden house and died weighing 28 pounds.

Case status:
Angela Norman (Mother), involuntary manslaughter, nine years.
Mollie E. Parsons (Nurse), manslaughter, 10 years; health care fraud, 3 years.
Marky K. Kilby (Nurse), convicted of failing to provide for functionally-impaired person, sentenced to probation; convicted of failing to report abuse; 180 days in jail, all but 15 days suspended.
Kathryn Williams (Nurse), convicted of failure to report child abuse or neglect and failing to provide for a functionally-impaired person; sentenced to 30 days in jail, 160 hours community service, and one year of probation.

Source:
Makayla M. Norman
Angela Norman: Murderpedia
Nurse in prison for teen’s death accused of health care fraud
Middletown caregiver sentenced for defrauding Medicaid in disabled Dayton teen’s death
Woman sentenced in Medicaid fraud case related to a minor’s death

Christine Anthony

No Photo Name: Christine Anthony.
Died: February 15, 2011.
Age at death: 50.
Cause of death: Burns.
Location: Narromine, New South Wales, Australia.
Disability: Spastic paraplegia.

Details:
On Valentine’s Day, Christine’s boyfriend poured alcohol over her and set it on fire. Christine managed to call for help and identified her boyfriend as the attacker before dying of a heart attack on the way to the burn unit.

Case Status:
David Allan Harding (Boyfriend), sentenced to 20 years 3 months to 27 years.

Sources:
CHRISTINE ANTHONY (#2-2011)
‘Defenceless woman’ murdered
Harding v R [2013] NSWSC 513 (16 May 2013)

Maurice, Leo, and Ivonna Vanhaverbeke and Gerard Vercamer

No Photo Name: Maurice Vanhaverbeke.
Died: 1978.
Age at death: 79.

Name: Leo Vanhaverbeke.
Died: May 17, 1986.
Age at death: 81.

Name: Gerard Vercamer.
Died: 2004.
Age at death: 80.

Name: Ivonna Vanhaverbeke.
Died: January 27, 2011.
Age at death: 90.

Cause of death: Air embolism.
Location: Menen, Belgium.
Disability: Unspecified; frail elders.

Details:
Maurice, Leo, Gerard, and Ivonna were family members of a serial killer who worked as a nurse and killed patients who were elderly or had terminal illnesses, usually by smothering them or injecting air bubbles into their bloodstreams. He is thought to have committed at least ten murders, including those of four family members. He called them “mercy killings”, but there is no evidence any of his victims wanted to die.

Case status:
Ivo Poppe (Family member). Ivonna was his mother; Leo and Gerard were great-uncles; Maurice was his father-in-law. Convicted of 5 counts of murder, sentenced to 9-27 years.

Source:
17 // Deacon of Death // Ivo Poppe // ANGEL OF DEATH • Talk Murder To Me – via Podcast Addict
‘Deacon of death’ accused of Belgium serial killings
Frank Verbruggen over anonieme slachtoffers Ivo Poppe
Aartsbisschop De Kesel getuige op assisenproces
‘Ik ben geen seriemoordenaar, maar een verlosser’
Le procès d’Ivo Poppe, « le diacre de la mort », s’ouvre en Belgique
Diaken Ivo Poppe naar assisen voor minstens tien moorden
‘Diaken des doods’ staat terecht voor oudermoord en minstens tien andere moorden
Le «diacre de la mort» admet avoir euthanasié 20 personnes au maximum: «Je n’ai jamais voulu tuer»
Le “diacre de la mort”, pire tueur en série belge?
Ivo Poppe trial: ‘Deacon of death’ accused of killing 10 people – including own mother – by injection
Belgium: ‘Deacon of death’ goes on trial on serial murder charges
‘Deacon of Death’ accused of using air injections to kill in Belgium

Donald Parojinog

Name: Donald Parojinog.
Died: January 18, 2011.
Age at death: 83.
Cause of death: Malnutrition, sepsis.
Location: Washington DC, USA.
Disability: Stroke.

Details:
Donald’s daughter was supposed to be taking care of him after he suffered three strokes, but instead, she neglected him. He died of starvation and blood poisoning from infected bedsores.

Case status:
Donna Parojinog (Daughter), pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 12 months in jail.

Source:
Woman sentenced in elderly father’s death

Marcus Hill

No Photo Name: Marcus Hill.
Died: December 2, 2010.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Head injury.
Location: Bessemer, Alabama, USA.
Disability: “Special Needs”.

Details:
Marcus was severely beaten by his stepfather and died of head injuries.

Case status:
Jeremy Coleman (Stepfather), convicted of murder, sentenced to life without parole.
Tynecia Stewart (Mother), charged with failure to protect Marcus from child abuse.

Source:
Detective testifies timeline makes Bessemer man only one who could have beaten 4-year-old to death
Bessemer man on trial for capital murder in 2010 death of 4-year-old stepson
Bessemer man sentenced for murder conviction in death of 4-year-old step son

Baby Girl

No Photo Name Unknown.
Died: November 18, 2010.
Age at death: 6 months.
Cause of death: Drowned.
Location: Sydney, Australia.
Disability: None; mother believed she had dwarfism.

Details:
This baby girl was born without any congenital conditions, but because she had skin tags on her ears, her mother believed her daughter had a disability. She had doctors test her over and over, each time with negative results, but became fixed on the idea that the baby had dwarfism. When a friend told her to stop worrying because it wasn’t cancer, she replied that it would be “better to deal with a terminal illness than to spend a lifetime with a dwarf”.

Her mother drowned the six-month-old girl in the bathtub.

Case status:
Her mother, sentenced to up to 20 years in a mental health institution; found fit to stand trial in August 2016, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Source:
Australian mother sentenced to 20 years jail for drowning 6-month-old child
Mother who killed baby believing she was a dwarf should not be jailed, court told
Mother who drowned her baby after worrying she had dwarfism sentenced to 20 years
NSW mother to face baby’s murder trial
Sydney mother who drowned her baby in the bath found guilty of murder
Sydney woman who drowned her daughter convicted of murder
Mother accused of drowning her baby in a bath
Mother found guilty of murdering baby she believed had a genetic defect
Mother fit to stand trial over baby death
Mother drowned her girl because she thought she had dwarfism

Allan Heath

No Photo Name: Allan Heath.
Died: November 3, 2010.
Age at death: 47.
Cause of death: Stabbing.
Location: Langford, Western Australia, Australia.
Disability: Mobility impaired.

Details:
Allan had a tenant who lived in a shed in his backyard, and who functioned as a caregiver for him. However, his tenant sold drugs; and though Allan used drugs himself, he was growing tired of having his caregiver do drug deals on the property. Three days after Allan gave the man an ultimatum and told him to move out, the man returned to the house and stabbed him in the stomach, perforating a large vein and killing him.

Case Status:
Christopher John Elliott (Friend, live-in caregiver), convicted of murder, sentenced to 14 years to life.

Sources:
Drug-user jailed for life for stabbing friend
Fatal stab victim was ‘white as a ghost’
Murder accused: ‘I stabbed the dog’
Accused murderer spoke of stabbing man
Tenant living in shed jailed for owner’s murder
Life sentence for stabbing murder