Russel Ingram and Eunice Peiris were homicide victims who were systematically drugged and murdered in 1978 and 1979 respectively by Father Mathew Pieris, an Anglican priest of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, Colombo and his accomplice and lover Dalrene Ingram.
Background
Father Mathew Peiris was a priest belonging to the Anglican Christian Fellowship, ordained by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1950s. He was known for his proclamation of god-given talent in performing exorcisms and due to his body markings which resembled stigmata, many disciples flocked around him to console themselves of their personal issues. Among them were Russel Ingram and his wife Dalrene, parents of three young children. From 1976 onwards, the Ingrams attended Father Peiris's exorcism ceremonies at his church on Thursdays. Because both of them lost their employment in close proximity to each other, Father Peiris employed Dalrene as his secretary due to her typing skills and later found employment for Russel at Lake House. As time passed, they became good friends with Father Peiris and his wife Eunice. On 6 February 1978, the Father and his wife went on a world tour leaving the young couple in-charge of their vicarage. On 25 April, Father Peiris returned alone while wife Eunice decided to stay with their children a little longer in the United Kingdom.
Death of Russel Ingram
On 9 June 1978, Russel mysteriously started suffering from somnolence and episodes of unconsciousness. He was given medication by Father Peiris, who told they were prescribed by Dr. Lakshman Weerasena, a local family physician. But the drowsiness continued, and on 26 June he was admitted to the General Hospital. During the course of next three weeks, there were four attacks of hypoglycemia during which he was unconscious or stuporous. Dr. Ernie Peiris diagnosed him of Insulinoma while Dr. P. A. P. Joseph continued to treat him. Following dextrose infusion, there were no more attacks and a glucose tolerance test on 3 July showed his blood sugar level was normal. Father Peiris and Russel's wife Dalrene frequently visited the patient with liquid diet and he was discharged on 14 July. The next day Dr. Joseph who had visited the vicarage observed that Russel was not capable of doing a simple arithmetic calculation, which was a telltale sign of brain damage. The next day, Dalrene's sister saw Father Peiris giving Russel some tablets and a capsule with a cup of tea, but after a few minutes from ingesting them, he collapsed after sweating profusely. After 2 days of staying at home due to drowsiness, a deeply unconscious Russel was admitted again on 18 July with an astounding zero blood sugar level in his body. On admission he had irreversible brain damage, but with 50% dextrose infusion his blood sugar rose to three times the normal level. The following day, his blood sugar picked up with 2 infusions of 5% dextrose and remained well above normal values. Father Peiris and Dalrene continued to visit him with liquid diet which was added to his nasogastric tube by the nurses. However, between 26 July and 3 August, Russel got five more hypoglycemic attacks even-though 50% dextrose was administered during those days. On 10 August, Russel Ingram died.