When carers kill

Updated

One person with disabilities is killed by their carer almost every three months in Australia, but these acts of domestic violence are often excused by the media and judiciary. The focus is too often on the killer. Here, we recognise the victims.

Kayden Cockman

Age: 8

Likes: The Avengers movie

Disability: Autism

Died: 11/05/2018

Location: WA

Circumstances: Shooting

Alleged killer: Peter Miles

Relationship: Grandfather

Punishment: None (alleged killer deceased)

Ayre Cockman

Age: 10

Likes: The Avengers movie and watched it as a family

Disability: Autism

Died: 11/05/2018

Location: WA

Circumstances: Shooting

Alleged killer: Peter Miles

Relationship: Grandfather

Punishment: None (alleged killer deceased)

Rylan Cockman

Age: 12

Likes: The Avengers movie and watched it as a family

Disability: Autism

Died: 11/05/2018

Location: WA

Circumstances: Shooting

Alleged killer: Peter Miles

Relationship: Grandfather

Punishment: None (alleged killer deceased)

Taye Cockman

Age: 13

Likes: The Avengers movie and watched it as a family

Disability: Autism

Died: 11/05/2018

Location: WA

Circumstances: Shooting

Alleged killer: Peter Miles

Relationship: Grandfather

Punishment: None (alleged killer deceased)

Man A

Age: 62

Disability: Disability pensioner

Died: 20/02/2017

Location: Qld

Circumstances: Bound, gagged, and killed

Alleged killer: Cannot be named

Relationship: Live-in carer

Punishment: Charged with murder, case ongoing

Woman A

Age: 83

Disability: Alzheimer's disease

Died: 24/01/2018

Location: WA

Circumstances: Strangulation

Alleged killer: Cannot be named

Relationship: Husband

Punishment: Charged with murder, court case ongoing

Man B

Age: 26

Disability: Brain injuries arising from car accident

Died: 18/07/2017

Location: Qld

Circumstances: Forced drug overdose

Alleged killer: Cannot be named

Relationship: Mother

Punishment: Charged with murder, case is ongoing

Harold Nolan

Age: 73

Disability: Suffered a stroke and rarely left the house

Died: 24/10/2016

Location: Vic

Circumstances: Stabbing

Killer: Renee Noland

Relationship: Former wife

Punishment: Found not guilty by mental impairment and sent to a secure hospital for 25 years

In the wake of the worst mass shooting in Australia since Port Arthur, the public was as hungry for answers as the police.

A suspected murder-suicide on a hobby farm near Margaret River in Western Australia on Friday, May 11, left seven people dead and shocked the nation.

But it was not long before grief turned to sympathy for the alleged culprit.

Peter Miles is widely believed to have killed six people, including four children with autism, before taking his own life.

An investigation is ongoing and, because Peter Miles is dead, we may never know the full story.

But soon after the news broke, Miles was described in the media as a loving grandfather, a "good bloke" who wanted the best for his grandchildren and worried about their future.

Robyn Frescura

Age: 50

Disability: Intellectual disability and could not walk or talk after a stroke

Died: 02/11/2016

Location: Qld

Circumstances: Murder-suicide

Killer: John Frescura

Relationship: Father

Punishment: None (killer deceased)

Andreas Headland

Age: 3

Disability: Congenital dyserythropoietic anemia

Died: 20/10/2016

Location: Qld

Circumstances: Medical experts said his death was consistent with asphyxiation in children with drug effects

Killer: Jason Headland

Relationship: Father

Punishment: Sentenced to 31 years behind bars for murder

Digby Dowdle

Age: 26

Likes: Walking his greyhound, Lucy

Disability: Acquired brain injury from a car accident

Died: 22/01/2016

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Sedated and suffocated

Killer: Susan Dowdle

Relationship: Mother

Punishment: Convicted of manslaughter and jailed for two years but immediately released with time served

Samantha Kelly

Age: 39

Disability: Intellectual disability

Died: 21/01/2016

Location: Vic

Circumstances: Beaten to death with a hammer

Killer: Peter James Arthur, Christine Lyons

Relationship: Housemate

Punishment: Peter James Arthur was sentenced to at least 18 years in jail for murder, Christine Lyons was also found guilty of murder, but is yet to be sentenced

Elisa Manrique

Age: 11

Likes: Loved dancing, singing, and painting. Held her teachers' hands while leading them around the school oval

Disability: Autism

Died: 10/01/16

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Gassed to death

Killer: Fernando Manrique

Relationship: Father

Punishment: None (killer deceased)

Martin Manrique

Age: 10

Likes: Painting and animals

Disability: Autism

Died: 10/01/16

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Gassed to death

Killer: Fernando Manrique

Relationship: Father

Punishment: None (killer deceased)

Zvonimir Petrovski

Age: 67

Disability: Mobility impaired

Died: 21/11/2015

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Stabbed to death

Killer: Anna Horneshaw

Relationship: Housemate

Punishment: Sentenced to 17 years behind bars for murder

Gloria Reilly

Age: 69

Disability: Chronic heart and lung disease

Died: 13/11/2015

Location: WA

Circumstances: Bashed

Contributed to death: Damien Reilly

Relationship: Son

Punishment: Sentenced to 12 months' prison for endangering his mother's life

Around the same time, reports emerged that all four grandchildren had autism — and in some cases this was repeated.

"I mean, there was one article where that was mentioned five times," said Nina Funnell, an anti domestic violence advocate.

She told Background Briefing emphasising the children had autism was shorthand for a lot more.

"Now, when you place undue emphasis on the fact the victims had a disability, it leaves the reader with the impression that the disability was somehow a causative trigger to the violence that has subsequently followed," she said.

"Readers walk away thinking, 'Well, this is the fault of autism'."

Samantha Connor, a disability advocate from WA, agreed.

"There's this constant narrative in media when we're murdered by parents and by family members," she said.

"People talk about those parents and family members as being devoted carers, and the blame is firmly placed on the disabled person.

"There are assumptions that are leapt to about the burden, and lack of services, and those sort of issues aren't necessarily the case when there is no evidence about that."

Maureen Boyce

Age: 68

Disability: Bipolar disorder and depression

Died: 22/10/2015

Location: Qld

Circumstances: Stabbed to death

Killer: Thomas Chris Lang

Relationship: Boyfriend

Punishment: Convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years in jail

Boy A

Age: 7.

Disability: Diabetes.

Died: 27/04/2015.

Location: NSW

Alleged killers: Parents and therapist.

Circumstances: Insulin deprivation after failed "self-healing" therapy.

Punishment: Parents charged with manslaughter, extradition sought for therapist

Liam Milne

Age: 11

Disability: Autism

Died: 01/02/2015

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Crashed car into tree

Killer: Darren Milne

Relationship: Father

Punishment: None (killer deceased)

Robert Wright

Age: 36

Disability: Deaf, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and reduced functionality in left leg

Died: 15/01/2015

Location: Vic

Circumstances: Died three days after being thrown from a second-floor balcony

Killers: Jake Fairest, Warwick Toohey, and Georgia Fields

Relationship: Housemates

Punishment: Jake Fairest and Warwick Toohey each convicted of murder and received a 25-year custodial supervision order

Kim Hunt

Age: 41

Disability: Traumatic brain injury from car accident causing hemiplegia and personality changes

Died: 09/09/14

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Murder suicide

Killer: Geoff Hunt

Relationship: Husband

Punishment: None (killer deceased)

Fletcher Hunt

Age: 10

Disability: ADHD

Died: 09/09/2014

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Murder suicide

Killer: Geoff Hunt

Relationship: Father

Punishment: None (killer deceased)

Jody Meyers

Age: 20

Disability: Partially deaf

Died: 08/01/2015

Location: SA

Circumstances: Strangled

Killer: Neil Archer

Relationship: Boyfriend

Punishment: Sentenced to 22 years behind bars

Boy B

Age: 5

Disability: Epilepsy

Died: 03/01/2015

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Diazepam, morphine, opiates, and possibly heroin

Killer: Unknown

Relationship: Unknown

Punishment: Unknown

When something terrible happens, it is normal to wonder why, and to seek reasons.

But there is a big difference between asking why and excusing a killer.

When people with disabilities are killed by their carer, advocates said the media all too often cites the carer's struggles, focusing on the burden that the victim placed on the killer — and accepting disability as a reason for murder.

Background Briefing has now collated media coverage, court judgements, and independent reports to determine how often in the past 15 years people with disabilities have been killed by an intimate carer.

An intimate carer is a family member or friend with responsibilities of care. The program has excluded paid disability support workers.

Background Briefing defines a person with a disability in accordance with the Australian Disability Discrimination Act.

The results from the analysis are shocking: one person with disabilities is killed by their carer almost every three months in Australia.

We do not have access to information troves like police databases, so we suspect this is almost certainly an underestimate.

Another problem with sympathising with a killer at length is that victims remain names only — they vanish from their own story.

Here, Background Briefing has sought to put faces to the names, and where possible include details of the lives of people killed by their carers.

Tyron Paul Honeywood

Age: 25

Disability: Paraplegic

Died: 20/03/2014

Location: WA

Circumstances: Shot and bashed with wheelchair

Killer: Brian Honeywood

Relationship: Father

Punishment: Brian Honeywood committed suicide in prison before sentencing

Woman B

Age: 83

Disability: Dementia, epilepsy, and mental illness

Died: 10/01/2013

Location: Vic

Circumstances: Pneumonia and malnourishment

Killers: Unknown

Relationship: Son and stepdaughter

Punishment: Unknown

Levai Bonnar

Age: 7

Disability: Intellectual disability

Died: 21/05/2013

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Beaten and starved

Killer: Kayla James and Kodi James Maybir

Relationship: Mother and mother's boyfriend

Punishment: Mother sentenced to 10-and-a-half years for manslaughter. Mother's boyfriend convicted of murder and jailed for 31-and-a-half years

Woman C

Age: 18

Disability: Developmental disability, autism

Died: 04/09/2012

Location: Qld

Circumstances: Forced drug overdose

Killer: Cannot be named

Relationship: Mother

Punishment: Mother charged with murder, case is ongoing

Boy C

Age: 11

Disability: Autism

Died: 01/10/2011

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Hypothermia and torture

Killer: Names withheld

Relationship: Mother and stepfather

Punishment: Mother pleaded guilty to manslaughter but the verdict is unknown due to non-publication order

Kyla Puhle

Age: 27

Disability: Intellectual, quadriplegia, cerebral palsy and scoliosis of the spine

Died: 03/01/2011

Location: SA

Circumstances: Severely malnourished, chest infection

Killer: Angela Puhle

Relationship: Mother

Punishment: Immediately released after receiving a suspended sentence for manslaughter

Tanilla Warrick-Deaves

Age: 2

Likes: Horses

Disability: Bowed legs

Died: 08/01/2011

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Bashed and left to die in a pram

Killers: Donna Deaves and Warren Ross

Relationship: Mother and stepfather

Punishment: Donna Deaves sentenced to 9.5 years. Warren Ross sentenced to 40 years

Christine Anthony

Age: 50

Disability: Severe disability, wheelchair-bound

Died: 14/02/2011

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Doused with methylated spirits and set alight

Killer: David Allen Harding

Relationship: Boyfriend

Punishment: A minimum of 20 years behind bars for murder

Accepting disability as a reason for murder is not just an Australian problem.

In the US, journalist and academic David Perry conducted a study looking at four years of US media coverage of hundreds of cases.

He found there were certain phrases that kept cropping up, whatever the case, whatever the circumstances.

"'Mercy killing', 'suffering' for sure, 'put out of her misery'," he said.

"When you see neighbours quoted as, 'Oh, they were so in love' or, 'She was such a doting parent'. 'Burden' would be right up there as a phrase. 'Act of love'. When we talk about, 'The love that a murderer felt for their murder victim'."

Trawl through Australian coverage of homicides where a carer has killed a person with disabilities, and David Perry's checklist will resonate.

To Perry, the biggest problem is not what reportage includes, but what it almost always leaves out.

"The big thing that I want the listeners to identify is the absence of the voices of people with disabilities," he said.

"So we really have a very fundamental problem. People are being murdered and no-one is talking to people with disability.

"I don't think there's any other kind of marginalised community in which, if there were a lot of murders, at least one reporter wouldn't reach out to — whether it's a community of colour, or an LGBT community.

"There are lots of communities that experience violence but at least they get a reaction quote, they get some kind of chance to weigh in."

Girl A

Age: 9

Disability: Cerebral Palsy

Died: 17/07/2011

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Repeatedly punched in the stomach

Killer: Cannot be named.

Relationship: Father

Punishment: Father charged with murder and case is still ongoing

Girl B

Age: 6 months

Disability: Mother feared her child had dwarfism or another genetic disorder

Died: 18/11/2010

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Drowned in bathtub

Killer: Cannot be named.

Relationship: Mother

Punishment: Detained in a facility by the mental health tribunal

Zahra Baker

Age: 10

Disability: Deaf, prosthetic leg, and bone cancer

Disappeared: 09/10/2010

Location: USA

Circumstances: Dismembered

Killer: Elisa Baker

Relationship: Stepmother

Punishment: Sentenced to 15 to 18 years in jail for second-degree murder

Barry Harrison

Age: 61

Disability: Motor neurone disease, could only move his head and eyes

Died: 05/10/2010

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Position in bed adjusted resulting in choking

Killer: Steven James McLaren

Relationship: Paid carer

Punishment: Sentenced to a minimum of three years' jail

Janet Mackozdi

Age: 77

Disability: Dementia, mobility impaired

Died: July, 2010

Location: TAS

Circumstances: Hypothermia from being left in a shipping container overnight

Killer: Jassy Anglin and Michael Anglin

Relationship: Daughter and son-in-law

Punishment: Suspended sentences for manslaughter

Elizabeth Knowles

Age: 48

Disability: Chronic illness and mobility impaired

Died: 04/01/2010

Location: Qld

Circumstances: A deliberately lit housefire

Killer: David Knowles

Relationship: Husband

Punishment: None (killer deceased)

Peter Eitzen

Age: 16

Disability: Intellectual disability

Died: 07/01/2009

Location: SA

Circumstances: Drugged and stabbed to death

Killer: Beverley Eitzen

Relationship: Mother

Punishment: Ruled unfit to stand trial, released on mental health supervision licence

Stephen Chin

Age: 63

Disability: Quadriplegic

Died: Before June 20, 2008

Location: NSW

Circumstances: House was burned down

Killer: Grace Soon

Relationship: Former wife

Punishment: Sentenced to a minimum of five years' jail for manslaughter

Violence towards people with disabilities is a confronting topic, shrouded in mystery.

According to a recent Senate report, having a disability means you are more likely to suffer violence, especially if you are a woman, whether you live in a residential care setting or the family home.

And if you have an intellectual disability, a study by the National Police Research Unit found you are 10 times more likely to have experienced abuse than an abled person.

But across all disabilities and genders, we do not know how often carers are violent towards people with disabilities because no-one collects the statistics — and the Federal Government has resisted strong calls for a royal commission.

Calling out poor media coverage of the killing of people with disabilities is not just about being politically correct.

David Perry warns there is a risk of contagion — that accepting disability as a reason for murder could lead to more deaths.

"The next potential murderer reads that, they think about it as a mercy killing, they're more likely to commit violence themselves," he said.

"We know about suicide contagion. We're learning unfortunately in the States about a mass-murder contagion.

''There is a real sense by the people who study media that the ways we talk about these things does have an impact."

Shellay Ebony Ward

Age: 7

Disability: Autism

Died: 02/11/2007

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Starvation and neglect

Killers: Blakeley Ward and Sharyn Ward

Relationship: Mother and father

Punishment: Sharyn Ward was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Blakeley Ward was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for a minimum of 12 years

Janine Penelope Brockie

Age: 42

Disability: Intellectually disabled

Died: 10/05/2007

Location: Vic

Circumstances: Head injuries sustained from punching and kicking

Killer: Brian Robert Andrew

Relationship: Intimate partner

Punishment: Sentenced to 10 years' jail for manslaughter

Janene Devine

Age: 48

Disability: Multiple sclerosis

Died: 16/03/2007

Location: WA

Circumstances: Starvation and neglect

Killer: Andrew Devine

Relationship: Husband

Punishment: Convicted of manslaughter

Kate Bugmy

Age: 26

Disability: Hearing impaired

Died: 06/01/2007

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Neglect, malnutrition, and blood poisoning

Contributed to death: Daphne Hall and Jenna Bugmy

Relationship: Mother and sister

Punishment: No charges laid. Coroner criticised remote health and disability services

Christopher John O'Brien

Age: 22

Disability: Intellectual disability

Died: 03/01/2007

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Assault

Killers: Shalendra Singh, Darren Charles Summers

Punishment: Shalendra Singh and Darren Charles Summers each were jailed after pleading guilty to being an accessary to manslaughter

Grace Parkes

Age: 83

Disability: Bell's palsy, Paget's disease

Died: 01/01/2005

Location: NSW

Killer: Phillip Raymond Parkes

Relationship: Son

Circumstances: Bludgeoned to death

Punishment: Sentenced to 18 years for murder

Gracie Sharpe

Age: 19 months

Disability: Intellectual disability

Died: 23/03/2004

Location: Vic

Circumstances: Attacked with a spear gun

Killer: John Myles Sharpe

Relationship: Father

Punishment: Life in prison

Boy D

Age: 4

Disability: Physical and intellectual disabilities

Died: 29/08/2003

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Medical attention resisted or not sought

Killer: Unknown

Relationship: Mother

Punishment: Convicted of manslaughter, suspended sentence, and good behaviour bond

Jason Dawes

Age: 10

Disability: Autism

Died: August, 2003

Location: NSW

Circumstances: Suffocation

Killer: Daniela Dawes

Relationship: Mother

Punishment: Convicted of manslaughter and given a five-year good behaviour bond

Daniel Thomas

Age: 2

Disability: Speech delay

Died: 10/01/2003

Location: Vic

Circumstances: Inconclusive (possibly strangulation, drowning, or a head injury)

Contributed to death: Mandy Martyn and Donna Thomas

Relationship: Babysitter and mother

Punishment: Police had insufficient evidence to lay charges

David Perry said no-one in the US has researched whether the tendency to excuse carers who kill extends to the courtroom.

But in Australia, there was a paper published last year.

In it, lawyer Frankie Sullivan examined all the cases they could find from the past 15 years where a carer was sentenced for the domestic homicide or attempted homicide of a disabled person.

Mr Sullivan analysed the language used in the sentencing remarks. Some familiar trends emerged: disability was invariably discussed as a very negative thing.

"So really medicalised language, language such as 'wheelchair bound' or 'this person suffered this condition'," Mx Sullivan said.

"People with disability were assumed to have a low quality of life, so to not enjoy their lives, or to be miserable, or to be suffering, or to be really unhappy with their bodies or their minds or their existence."

It would be unthinkable in other domestic violence cases, but quite often judges were prepared to accept evidence the victim had a low quality of life, which came from the killer themselves.

"Often, you know, the accused or the offender themselves would be saying, 'This person was unhappy with x y z' or 'This person really struggled with this and that' being sort of taken as a definitive statement of their lived experience, without consulting or having any consideration of whether or not that's accurate," Mx Sullivan said.

In these sentencing remarks, killing appeared to be seen as an extension of care. The killers were perceived to have "suffered enough" through their years of devoted care for their victim.

But, as Mx Sullivan wrote, when there's domestic violence towards people without a disability, social stressors are not accepted either by judges or by society in general as a mitigating factor.

And when it comes to the persistent narrative of the "devoted carer", disability advocate Samantha Connor said citing a killer's love for their victim doesn't cut it.

"When people say that a mother was a devoted carer or a parent or another family member was a devoted carer, our response is invariably that devoted carers do not kill their children," they said.

"Because the worst thing that can happen to someone is that they die.

"It doesn't matter how much you love that person. They're just as dead."

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800, Mensline Australia on 1300 789 978 or the Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467. To find a disability advocacy service in your area visit the Disability Advocacy Finder website.

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Topics: community-and-society, discrimination, government-and-politics, health, law-crime-and-justice, crime, murder-and-manslaughter, disabilities, autism-spectrum-disorder, australia

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