Did Heather Wardle kill her disabled son?

[Unamused Cat]

James Hughes

Heather Wardle

In what was described as one of the saddest cases that officers had seen, West Mercia police confirmed yesterday that a body found in Redditch was that of James Hughes, who suffered severe disabilities.

Mr Hughes, 22, who had the mental age of a toddler, was found at his family home on Wednesday, just two days after his mother's body was discovered by teenagers at the base of a tree. While police said they were treating the death of Heather Wardle, 39, as unexplained, a ligature around her neck appeared to indicate she hanged herself.

Officers said they would need to study dental records formally to identify Mr Hughes's remains and were trying to establish when he had died.

A man and a youth arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of murder remained in custody yesterday at police stations in Redditch and Kidderminster in Worcestershire. Detectives refused to reveal whether they were known to the family.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...arden-is-confirmed-as-missing-man-815414.html

 

[Miss. Hill]

It sounds like she could have killed him, but why are they holding two suspects?

It seems strange that after 22 years of caring for him she would kill him. If she was going to get fed up you would think it would have happened sooner. I do find it suspicious she called off the service that came to pick him up as well as the help of social services.

It did state in the article that her long term boyfriend and her were having problems, and that he is a suspect, maybe he killed them both!

I'm interested to hear what happened.

 

[ThreeOnAMeathook]

This is bullshit. He looked like a cool kid, disabilities or not.

I agree with the sentiment that after 22 years of care its hard to believe she'd kill him.

However, maybe the problems between her and her boyfriend were because he couldn't imagine having to take care of James for his whole married life. Maybe they were really into each other and she couldn't be without him. There's probably a huge Lifetime movie behind this.

This case hits home with me because James and I have a similar cowlick.

Incredibly sad.

 

[Unamused Cat]

Now they are saying James' body was found in a suitcase and may have been back garden for weeks. I don't know how he died yet, but his mother knew. Maybe it was guilt that drove her to suicide. This is so sad. James looked like a sweet boy. *sigh*

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/24/nhughes224.xml

 

[Unamused Cat]

Update

Heather Wardle killed herself because she feared she was about to be exposed for hiding her son's body in the garden, a friend has said.

Police who had been questioning her long-term boyfriend, Brian Kirby, and a youth on suspicion of murder, were released both without charge last night.

They now believe that James died naturally, possibly from a fall or an epileptic fit, and his mother, beset by grief, hid the body.

Yesterday, a close friend of the family said James's natural father, Paul Hughes, 42, became suspicious after Miss Wardle, 39, refused to allow him to see James, who had the mental age of an 18-month-old, for four months.

She said Miss Wardle told Mr Hughes that James was in a local respite home, but when he found out that no one at the home had seen his son for months, he demanded to know what was going on.

The friend said: "It is inconceivable that either Brian or Heather would hurt James. They loved him. Heather was so proud that she was his carer, that for 22 years she washed him, changed him, fed him, changed his nappies."

She said she thought James had died of natural causes and Miss Wardle blamed herself.

She decided not to alert the authorities but to keep the body, which police confirmed was found in a suitcase in the back garden of their home in Redditch, Worcs.

Another friend said it became harder and harder for Miss Wardle to fob Mr Hughes off after Christmas.

He said: "She always told him he was being looked after at a local respite home, which gives parents a break, so he couldn't see him.

"Eventually, he phoned the home and was told no one there had seen him for four months."

He said that as James's 22nd birthday, which would have been last Sunday, neared, Mr Hughes became increasingly suspicious.

It is understood that last Friday, the day Miss Wardle hanged herself, Mr Hughes and a friend had gone to the house and demanded to see his son.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/26/nhughes126.xml

I guess she was still cashing the govt checks the four months James has been gone. Bah...