Please explain something to me . . .
My wife and I sat adjacent to Paul and Debra McMahon at the Oak Ridge High School band banquet this past spring. It was a time for band members and their parents to celebrate the past year of concerts and competitions. And it was a special time for seniors, like our son and the McMahons’ daughter, to be recognized for their achievements and to receive the best wishes of the “band family” for the rest of their lives.
We weren’t really friends with the McMahons. But our children had gone through four years of band together, and the McMahons were among the fellow band parents we recognized and spoke to from time to time. Toward the end of the evening each graduating senior came to the front to be recognized for his or her service in the band, and to discuss plans for the future. Kim McMahon and Milton Jr. were among those going forward while Mr. Wade told the assembled crowd of their plans for the future.
At the time we had no idea what was going on at the McMahon’s home. For some time they had been taking care of Debra’s sister, Karen Dreager, who was afflicted with cerebral palsy. I don’t know what Ms. Dreager’s condition was that Spring, but three months later she was dead. When the police found Ms. Dreager, her body had been decomposing a day or two in the August heat. According to the local newspaper, “When found dead, Dreager weighed about 50 pounds and her body was emaciated and soiled with dirt, body fluids and excrement. Her backbone and wires from a previous surgery were reportedly protruding from her skin” [1]. Dozens of scented candles had been placed around the room to fight the smell. Fly paper strung about the room was encrusted with insects [2].
An autopsy confirmed what police believed from the start: Karen Dreager had been starved to death. In December Paul and Debra McMahon, along with their daughter, Kim, were arrested and charged with first degree murder. The McMahon’s fifteen-year-old son was not charged. As of last week Paul and Debra were still in the county jail, each being held under one million dollars bond.
There’s no doubt that long-term, in-home care of a disabled family member is an enormous burden. When the McMahons' case goes to trial, I’m sure we’ll hear mitigating circumstances on why caring for Mrs. Dreager was especially difficult. And first-degree murder is an extremely severe charge.
But if indeed the McMahons simply allowed Debra’s sister to starve to death, something must be done. It’s unconscionable to think that an entire family would neglect a family member’s most basic needs, to the point of death. It’s particularly heart-breaking to think of young Kim, who has entered adulthood in such a grisly, horrifying, and destructive situation.
I don’t know what should happen to the McMahons—that is for a jury to decide. But something horrible has happened in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the legal system, at least, acknowledges that something must be done.
How ironic that seven hundred miles south of here, a family is prohibited by court order from providing the most basic needs—water and food—to Theresa Marie Schiavo. In fact—beyond any assertions of “artificial” or “heroic” means—the Pinellas County circuit court has denied Terri Schiavo’s family permission to give her food or water by mouth [3]. As I write this, Terri is wasting away, deprived of water for nine days. Her lawful husband is thus having his way in dehydrating her to death.
My question: Why are the McMahons in jail for first degree murder while the full weight of the state and federal legal systems support Michael Schiavo's efforts to neglect his wife to death?
ENDNOTES
1. “Case of OR starvation death in court today,” The Oak Ridger, 21 Mar. 2005, p. 1. Available online at http://oakridger.com/stories/032105/new_20050321040.shtml.
2. “Family indicted for murder,” The Oak Ridger, 9 Dec. 2004, p. 1. Available online at http://oakridger.com/stories/120904/new_20041209035.shtml.
3. Pinellas County Florida Circuit Court, Probate Division, File No. 90-2908-GD-003, 8 Mar. 2005. Available online at http://www.terrisfight.net/documents/030805orderdenyfood.pdf.
Copyright 2005, Milton Stanley
We weren’t really friends with the McMahons. But our children had gone through four years of band together, and the McMahons were among the fellow band parents we recognized and spoke to from time to time. Toward the end of the evening each graduating senior came to the front to be recognized for his or her service in the band, and to discuss plans for the future. Kim McMahon and Milton Jr. were among those going forward while Mr. Wade told the assembled crowd of their plans for the future.
At the time we had no idea what was going on at the McMahon’s home. For some time they had been taking care of Debra’s sister, Karen Dreager, who was afflicted with cerebral palsy. I don’t know what Ms. Dreager’s condition was that Spring, but three months later she was dead. When the police found Ms. Dreager, her body had been decomposing a day or two in the August heat. According to the local newspaper, “When found dead, Dreager weighed about 50 pounds and her body was emaciated and soiled with dirt, body fluids and excrement. Her backbone and wires from a previous surgery were reportedly protruding from her skin” [1]. Dozens of scented candles had been placed around the room to fight the smell. Fly paper strung about the room was encrusted with insects [2].
An autopsy confirmed what police believed from the start: Karen Dreager had been starved to death. In December Paul and Debra McMahon, along with their daughter, Kim, were arrested and charged with first degree murder. The McMahon’s fifteen-year-old son was not charged. As of last week Paul and Debra were still in the county jail, each being held under one million dollars bond.
There’s no doubt that long-term, in-home care of a disabled family member is an enormous burden. When the McMahons' case goes to trial, I’m sure we’ll hear mitigating circumstances on why caring for Mrs. Dreager was especially difficult. And first-degree murder is an extremely severe charge.
But if indeed the McMahons simply allowed Debra’s sister to starve to death, something must be done. It’s unconscionable to think that an entire family would neglect a family member’s most basic needs, to the point of death. It’s particularly heart-breaking to think of young Kim, who has entered adulthood in such a grisly, horrifying, and destructive situation.
I don’t know what should happen to the McMahons—that is for a jury to decide. But something horrible has happened in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the legal system, at least, acknowledges that something must be done.
How ironic that seven hundred miles south of here, a family is prohibited by court order from providing the most basic needs—water and food—to Theresa Marie Schiavo. In fact—beyond any assertions of “artificial” or “heroic” means—the Pinellas County circuit court has denied Terri Schiavo’s family permission to give her food or water by mouth [3]. As I write this, Terri is wasting away, deprived of water for nine days. Her lawful husband is thus having his way in dehydrating her to death.
My question: Why are the McMahons in jail for first degree murder while the full weight of the state and federal legal systems support Michael Schiavo's efforts to neglect his wife to death?
ENDNOTES
1. “Case of OR starvation death in court today,” The Oak Ridger, 21 Mar. 2005, p. 1. Available online at http://oakridger.com/stories/032105/new_20050321040.shtml.
2. “Family indicted for murder,” The Oak Ridger, 9 Dec. 2004, p. 1. Available online at http://oakridger.com/stories/120904/new_20041209035.shtml.
3. Pinellas County Florida Circuit Court, Probate Division, File No. 90-2908-GD-003, 8 Mar. 2005. Available online at http://www.terrisfight.net/documents/030805orderdenyfood.pdf.
Copyright 2005, Milton Stanley
posted by Milton Stanley at 3:33 PM
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