US man, frustrated over mother ‘sleeping around’, strangles her

A 46-year-old man in Illinois, United States, murdered his 60-year-old mother by strangling her with a bungee cord inside their home. He was reportedly frustrated over her “sleeping around” and “not giving him money”.

According to a report by Law & Crime, Neil Howard has been found guilty of killing his mother, Norma Caraker, in their Troy residence on September 13, 2023, after she returned from a date. Howard, who was drunk at the time, snapped when Caraker returned home from a date. He wrapped a bungee cord around her neck, fatally strangling her, authorities said.

Assistant State’s Attorney Luke Yager told the court that Howard had grown resentful of his mother’s behaviour, stating, “This defendant had had enough of his mother. He’d had enough of her sleeping around. He’d had enough of her not giving him money”.

After killing his mother, Howard called 911, claiming he was “worried about his mother because she was unresponsive”. When Troy Police arrived, they discovered Norma lying in bed with the bungee rope still tightly secured around her neck. Efforts to revive her were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

During initial questioning, Howard, still visibly intoxicated, claimed that an unknown man had fled through a sliding-glass door in their home just before he found his mother. However, officers found that the door was locked from the inside, contradicting his account. Howard was subsequently arrested from his home.

Howard was found guilty of first-degree murder and now faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison.

This was not the first time Howard had been arrested for a suspicious death. According to the Edwardsville Intelligencer, he was previously investigated in the 2005 death of his father, George Howard Jr, in Dallas County in Texas. At the time, Howard was arrested by Mesquite Police but was released when prosecutors failed to convince a grand jury to indict him.

Despite his recent conviction, Howard’s defence team plans to appeal, citing what they claim was a flawed crime scene investigation by the Troy Police Department, according to Law & Crime.