Desperate mother and godmother 'killed severely autistic boy, 14, by stabbing him multiple times in the chest' when they became overwhelmed caring for him 24/7 after demanding he be removed from the hospital and in put in their care

A mother stabbed her severely autistic son several times in the chest then nearly severed his hand slashing his wrist after she and the 14-year-old's godmother became overwhelmed caring for the boy day and night after taking him out of the hospital in March, police say.
Dorothy Spourdalakis had pleaded for financial help removing her son Alex from Loyal University Medical Center in Chicago, where she claimed he was neglected and abused. Disgraced British autism researcher Andrew Wakefield personally recorded a YouTube request for donations in March to find Alex a home outside the hospital and said that he would be taken away from his mother if supporters didn't act.
After Wakefield's appeal and several posts by the autism activist site Age of Autism, an anonymous donor gave Spourdalakis funds that allowed her to leave the hospital with Alex. She wrote in a March blog post she would make sure Alex received 'appropriate medical attention.'
Less than three months later, police say, Spourdalakis and his godmother and caretaker Jolanta Agatha Skrodzka could no longer handle round-the-clock care for Alex because they believed the 200-pound teen's 'emotional condition had worsened' since he was removed from the hospital.

Stabbed: 14-year-old Alex Spourdalakis was found dead in his bed Sunday afternoon, with several stab wounds to his chest. Above, a recent picture of Alex restrained at a hospital where he was being treated for gastrointestinal problems

Suicide pact: Dorothy Spourdalakis, 50,  and Jolanta Skrodzka, 40, planned to commit suicide after killing 14-year-old Alex. They took sleeping pills, but did not die

Andrew Wakefield, a disgraced British autism researcher, recorded a personal appeal for donations or help to have Alex removed from the hospital

The Chicago Tribune reports that Spourdalakis and Skrodzka planned a suicide pact in their cramped apartment above a plumber in River Grove, Illinois.
They first allegedly tried to kill Alex with sleeping pills. When that didn't work, police say, Alex's mother grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the teenage boy multiple times in the chest as he lay in bed, according to authorities. She then allegedly slashed the boy's wrist, nearly cutting off his hand.
Once Alex was dead, she handed the knife to Skrodzka, who used it to kill the family cat. A suicide note said the women killed the cat because they did not want to to go to a shelter.

The pair wiped off the knife and returned it to the butcher's block in the kitchen. The detailed their actions in a suicide note, according to authorities.
They then took sleeping pills with the intention of killing themselves and laid down in Alex's bedroom and locked the door, according to authorities.
The boy's father, who is separated from Spourdalakis, found Alex dead and the two women barely conscious after he went to the apartment when no one answered his repeated phone calls.

Caretaker: This image shows Dorothy Spourdalakis, 50, washing her son's feet while is he restrained to the bed in hospital

Round-the-clock: Skrodzka is seen feeding Alex through a straw. She also provided care for the teen around the clock

Spourdalakis claims her son was abused and neglected at Loyola University Medical Center, where he was tied to the bed because he could become violent

Spourdalakis, 50, and Skrodzka, 44, were taken to the hospital, where they were treated and then charged with first degree murder.
'The murder was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner,' Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Maureen O’Brien told the Tribune.
The two women began caring for Alex full time in March after Spourdalakis launched a public campaign to have her son removed from Loyola University Medical Center and enlisted the help of Age of Autism - an autism activism blog.
Controversial British surgeon Andrew Wakefield also became involved, asking the 'autism community' to help find Alex a place to stay before he was put in 'long term psychiatric care.' He said Alex needed someone to provide a place where he could 'be on the necessary diet' and 'complete the treatment' for his autism.

Wakefield has been stricken from the British medical register. He is an autism researcher who claims to have found a link between the measles vaccine and autism - though his research was later discredited.
Wakefield could not be reached for comment on this story.
'He needs something simple in the country where he can run around and get the treatment that he needs so he can get better,' a beleaguered Spourdalakis said in an interview with Autism Media Channel.
Two days later after Wakefield posted his appeal, Spourdalakis wrote on Age of Autism that a donor had come forward and given her the money to let her take Alex away from the hospital. She said that the money allowed her to take Alex to get the care needed.
'We know no one will help us unless we help ourselves,' she wrote.

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