Parents with a developmentally disabled child often have a great deal of stress over who will take care of their child when the parent is gone. Parents know that they have to do what they can while they’re around in order to get the child as self-sufficient as possible.
That’s what Deborah Laramey was doing with her 23-year-old daughter, Katlin Cousineau. Katlin had the mental acuity of a 13 or 14-year-old, but was making progress. She was getting checks from the government every month, and learning how to deal with being on her own.
Katlin Cousineau had made a friend, 33-year-old Susanna Balogh, who invited Katlin to live in her house in the country with her and her three sons, who were 11, 12 and 13 years old, respectively. Katlin signed her checks over to Susanna, who gave her an allowance every month and provided food and so on for her.
Also living on the property were 20 cats, four dogs and many rabbits. This was a lively house.
It was also insured for $100,000.
Around the first of November, two men moved into Susanna Balogh’s house to help with expenses. One of the men was 25-year-old Matthew Sitte, the other 41-year-old Paul Brady.
Neither of the men who moved in particularly liked Katlin Cousineau. Some people just don’t feel comfortable around the developmentally disabled, for whatever reason.
The men started to abuse the girl. Pushing her. Slapping her. Hitting her.
They also convinced Susanna Balogh to move Katlin down into the unfinished basement to sleep.
On the 12th of November, 2005, something set Matthew Sitte off. It could have been when he found the house was insured for so much, or it could have been something else. On that morning, however, Matthew Sitte and Paul Brady went down into Katlin’s basement room with a pair of handcuffs, some gasoline and a blowtorch.
For several hours the two men tortured Katlin Cousineau while she was naked, handcuffed and unable to move. They slapped and hit her. They kicked her. They held the blowtorch to various parts of her body and burned her. After burning the girl, Matthew Sitte would throw rubbing alcohol on the wounds.
Yes, they tortured a helpless girl for several hours.
While they were doing this, Susanna Balogh was sitting upstairs with her kids, watching TV and ignoring the blood-curdling screams coming from the basement.
Eventually, Katlin Cousineau couldn’t take any more abuse and died. Matthew Sitte and Paul Brady went back upstairs, leaving the girl’s body in handcuffs and a blowtorch between her legs.
That night, all three talked about how to dispose of Katlin’s body and the subject of the insurance on the house came up.
What better way to hide a blowtorch torture session than with a little arson?
On the 13th of November, 2005, armed with a few cans of gasoline, Matthew Sitte set the stage for insurance fraud, going through the house and liberally scattering the gas over everything. He took special care to cover Katlin’s body in gas as well, but didn’t remove the blowtorch, probably hoping that investigators would look at the resulting fire as something the girl had done to herself.
Matthew Sitte set the fire while everyone else packed and they all went to a hotel.
Within hours of the house burning to the ground, Susanna Balogh filed a claim on her insurance and collected the $100,000 that the house was covered for.
A fire investigator did find Katlin’s charred body, along with the handcuffs, a few cans of gasoline and the blowtorch - but something didn’t quite ring true. An autopsy done on Katlin revealed that she had died of a sudden and unnatural death, and there was evidence that she had been tortured and had died from the torture before the fire burned her.
The plan had almost worked.
Matthew Sitte, Paul Brady and Susanna Balogh were arrested.
Susanna pled guilty to criminal negligence causing death, conspiracy to commit arson and obstruction of justice and was sentenced to eight years in prison, minus time served.
Matthew Sitte pled guilty to to second-degree murder in exchange for his testimony against Paul Brady. Matthew’s fate will be determined by the judge on the 26th of October, 2007.
Paul Brady’s still waiting his turn at the wheel.
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Where is Deborah Laramey in all of this?
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bloody sickening.
God I hate people… not just for shit like this, but mostly. Thanks for letting your fellow man know what’s up.
Jordan
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i just dont know where people like this get off!!! they all deserve to rot in hell!!! lock them up and throw away the key!!!
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That poor girl. What pain. These people are cold hearted & sick … as are so many these days.
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All three of them are guilty!! People like this make me sick, taking advantage of someone just because they know they can. If these 3 jackasses felt the need to take advantage of a girl who has the capability of a 13 year old it says a lot about how smart these 3 were….
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My name is Melissa Price, and anyone who knew me, knew that Katlin Cousineau was my best fucking friend. She was the first person I met at school when I was new in town, and we were best friends all the way through high school and afterwards until about 2003 when I moved to Edmonton and lost contact with her, for what I thought, would be a short period of time. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that these viscious mother fuckers would do something so sadistic that it would make the most hardened criminal cringe. It has been 2 years since her death and I still feel like it was yesturday that she was murdered. Over fucking MONEY. She was the sweetest person you could ever want to meet and yes she had a mental maturity of a teen, but she was the best damn friend you could ever ask for. After I found out this happened, I literally had a mental breakdown. I feel so sick with an immense amount of deep, burning, agonizing dispair that goes through me everyday, and it will NEVER go away. As I write this, my hands are trembling because I just still can’t believe that this happened to her…. I went to the sentencing of Matt Sitte and he looked like he just didn’t care, but guess what? I care and people doing life don’t give a fuck about people who murder disabled women for money. I know for a fact that the boys who do life don’t give a fuck if they kill someone because they only get 5 years tacked onto their sentence if you are incarcerated, (research it, it is true)and anyone else doing time do not accept people who sadistically torture a helpless, disabled woman.
those men will be tortured everyday by inmates so intensely, they’ll shit themselves and have to worry about who’s gonna get them next and how bad the beating is going to be. They will be so fucking scared that they will either be locked into pc where the goofs, rats and pedophiles are (and even they don’t accept what those mother fuckers did), or solitary confinement and maybe share a wing with Paul Bernardo. Now as for the mother of Katlin, She was no angel. She makes it out that she cared so deeply for Katlin. BULL FUCKING SHIT. I know she is hurting that her daughter was murdered, but she is not by any means the good mother the papers portray her as. she would go out and do her cocaine and booze up, and leave Katlin with her 2 brothers and sister at home. Then she would periodically hit Katlin for no reason except that she was a nasty drunk with her priorities in the wrong places. Not on her children, especially Katlin.I had seen the bruises and Katlin told me about it. Katlins mom does not like me because I let out her dirty little secret that she beat her own daughter in her drunken cocaine induced stupors.
What boggles my mind is, why, if Deborah Laramey is such a caring mother, would she not have had her enrolled in a community living program if she was that disabled instead of letting some stranger look after her?
If someone is disabled, I’m sorry, but if you are not qualified to take care of a disabled person by degree, unless it is family, you have no fucking business being a care taker of that person. The reason I say this is because of the end result of this fucking horror.
I want nothing more than to see these men tortured themselves, but guess what? When they die, they will have to answer to the man upstairs and there is NO excuse for murdering anyone let alone a disabled woman, especially in the manner that they did. So when they do die, they will suffer for eternity for what they did. That is true justice.
I think it’s a fucking joke that that bitch who was Katlins care taker got off that easily. She may not have murdered her directly, but she also caused her own kids to get fucked up because of it and for that she deserves the highest level of punnishment there is for fucking up children like that. How are those children going to deal with that? She got 8 years less time served which means she could be eligable for parole NOW. Now if no one sees just how fucked up the justice system is, then they must have blinders on. She was in on the whole thing, yet the crown says “if you testify, you don’t get that much time” Well that’s not solving the problem. They have fucking Science to back up theories. Witnesses are a backup usually in murder cases. So instead of getting life like she sould have, she walks away. I think that if you are involved in a murder that is conspired, ALL of them should get the same fucking sentence. I really can’t believe that they abolished the death penalty (especially hanging, which stopped in the 70s) Because they need it in extreme cases like this one. The states have it right. Now it’s our turn. I think that my best friends murder should be an example of how fucked up the judicial system is and how badly it needs an overhaul.
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Shon John reply on May 13, 2008:
I am the son of the women you are referring to, Susanna Balogh. I am Shon John. I am the oldest of the three brothers Lloyd and Andrew John. If your wondering where i get my last name, i get it from my previous step dad Mike John, he had adopted me and my brothers at age 4. He had spend many years with my mother, and had left one day. And she had soon met Paul Brady. Anyways. I just wanted to tell you sorry for the pain you had to endure and go through. Tho i myself had also had to endure allot of pain because of this scenario. I had to deal with very much and i wanted to say i did not appreciate being called “fucked” up. Yes i was a very scared child because of this, but i am passed this now, and am doing better with my life. But again i am sorry.
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Um yeah, this would be the oldest son to the women Sussana. Im shon…and yeah it really hurts to see what people have written about my mother, but in fairness i cant dissagree with your opinions. I am now 15, turning 16 in june, and im all sorry to hear what all of you have to say. Its painful just to even read about what had happend, the memories…the fear. For 2 years, i spent my life in fear, living nightmares. I was not so sure of what i wanted. I was suicidle, and wanted myself to perish. Because of what mylife had brought forth. I am now currently in Foster care, and have been for about 2 years now. I live with all my Brothers, Lloyd and Andrew John ( The last name comes from my step father Mike John who had adopted us and was with my mother for several years) I really dont know who to react to all of this again, and also to what everyone has said. To i think my mother should rot in hell….well i hated her for the longest time. Because she wont be there, for my teen years. She wont be there to watch me finaly grow up. And of course, she lied to me about everything that went on. I was completely unaware of this, all thogh i was a witness to the murder, and testified against Paul Brady. Well i really dont know what to say, i just wanted to point out that my life in a better direction that what it was, and i am currently doing fine and well. I am not “fucked” up as one women had said in previous comments, tho i was. But i am moving on and learning to fight the horror, and get rid of and ease the pain.
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PantalonesDeDios reply on May 13, 2008:
Shon John,
It takes quite a bit of fortitude to come back from a situation like that and hold your head up. It’s tough luck that you had endure that type of shit but you seem to have done fine. Keep on truckin man, I hope your life continues to get better.
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Shon John reply on May 13, 2008:
Thanks. I don’t really know how to or even what to say to most people when this subject is brought up. I am quite open about it now, and yes my life has definitely brightened up with new perks and opportunities. Again, thanks.
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TurtleMania reply on May 13, 2008:
Don’t give your mom a second chance. Totally disown her. You are a new person, you can survive without her help.
Another Mother reply on May 13, 2008:
Shon, I don’t believe most adults would know what to say about this, so don’t be too hard on yourself for not knowing how to approach it. I’m glad to hear you’re together with your brothers and you are getting a new start in life. I don’t think that anyone thinks you’re “fucked up.” I think she just meant that your mom put you in a situation that has caused irreparable harm. Good luck to you, Shon. I hope your life keeps getting better and better.
Its hard to disown your own mother, even after all she may have done to you or what she has done to altar your lifestyle. My life has most certainly changed due to the actions of which my mother had proceeded with. I do believe i still love my mother tho i also hate her within every portion of my body. My life has spun downwards and upwards to a devastating degree. Things that have happened to me that i can never regain or take back. My life today has been alright but I myself still undergo many challenges and difficulties. Some in which i wish i would not have to face, or even have to face. But i still must go through and face the challenges which face me ahead. Thank you all for giving me your opinions and thoughts of this. I will continue to read what other people have to say about this.
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TurtleMania reply on May 14, 2008:
I understand.
Mr. Shon John, you are better than me in that respect.
It’s not hard for me to disown anyone.
As a consequence, it has been my personal hell that I live with everyday. But, the memories aren’t there anymore - just a black void.
The positive is comparable to the metamorphosis of a butterfly in which the caterpillar transforms into something colorful. The professionals instructed me to join a forum to help relieve pent-up anger and frustration; hence my presence here in PYSIH.
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to Shon John
I am the person who wrote that long, very angry post about my best friend, Katlin in December. I just wanted to say that I am so sorry that you had to go through all of that, and all that goes through my mind is what you guys heard that night and what Katlin went thorough, and that your mother did not do anything to stop it and that is why I am so angry. All I know is what I read here and in the papers and that phone call I will never forget for the rest of my life, and I don’t know all the details but I am still in that dark place and can not fathom or comprehend why these men did this….your mom was neglegent and she is by
no means innocent, so I can’t say I don’t have immense rage towards her for not stopping it especially with her children (you and your brothers ) there….I just want to know why these men did it, and if I don’t know, I don’t think I will ever have closure until I know why….maybe you do? I went to Sitte’s sentencing and the unemotional blank look on his face made me want to do anything I could to get to him, but I stayed silent because it was a court proceeding, although our judicial system is fucked up.he didn’t show any kind of remorse….and I just don’t understand what my best friend in the whole universe could have done to provoke the most sadistic torture I’ve heard of. I can’t stop thinking about it and it consumes me because for years, I looked after her in school when people were assholes, and for some reason, I feel guilty for not being there, even though we had our own lives, but we were like sisters and there is not a day that goes by that I don’t sob uncontrollably and have a deep black hole of dispair in the pit of my stomach…..I’m sorry that I called you fucked up, but in reality it did….for a while….and I apologize if I offended you….if you would like to talk personally my e-mail is AngelWhisper_7@hotmail.com or respond here…….maybe you have more insight that can help me get through this myself…..
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Shon John reply on May 25, 2008:
I had added you online to messenger, you may speak to me there. I have no objections to it. Thank you, and i again am sorry.
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