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The Role of Forensic Investigation in an Unusual Case of Patricide by a Schizophrenic Woman Involving Dismemberment of a Decomposed Body. Diagnostics (Basel) 2022; 12:diagnostics12071577. [PMID: 35885483 PMCID: PMC9320108 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics12071577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Dismemberment is characterized by the fragmentation of the body into anatomical sections. It can occur because of a murder, suicide, or accident. In the literature, there are no cases of patricide perpetrated by a daughter in which the offender performed the dismemberment. However, in this paper, we reported a case of patricide by a schizophrenic daughter that was not treated with antipsychotic therapy. Post-mortem Computed Tomography (PMCT), autopsy, and histological examinations were performed. The soft tissues were removed through maceration techniques and chemical treatment. An analysis was performed to study the bone margins and clarify the weapon and manner of death. This investigation, which used radiological and histological studies, helped to assess the vitality of the injuries. The purpose of the study is to discover the weapon used, the cause, and the manner of death, with particular interest in this case due to the dismemberment. Moreover, we emphasize the correlation between patricide, dismemberment, and a lack of antipsychotic treatment in patients with schizophrenia.
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Parricide cases of adult offenders from Turkey: A descriptive study. J Forensic Leg Med 2016; 39:151-5. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2016.01.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2015] [Revised: 01/07/2016] [Accepted: 01/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Raymond S, Léger AS, Lachaux B. A descriptive and follow-up study of 40 parricidal patients hospitalized in a French secure unit over a 15-year period. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LAW AND PSYCHIATRY 2015; 41:43-49. [PMID: 25910927 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2015.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Parricide is rare and represents 3% of all homicides in France, and 4% of resolved homicides in North America. Consequently, related international literature is sparse, especially concerning the evolution of offenders, and most studies concern small samples or anecdotal cases. We wished to identify the main characteristics of parricidal subjects and their victims, and to assess the socioclinical evolution of the offenders after the assault. To this end, we first studied the sociodemographic, clinical and forensic characteristics of all parricidal patients admitted to France's Henri Colin secure unit between 1996 and 2010 (40 patients). We also assessed the evolution of the 36 patients who had left the secure unit, using questionnaires sent to the psychiatric hospitals where the patients were transferred. We found most offenders to be men (97.5%), with a mean age of 28 years, who were mostly single, unemployed, living with the victim prior to the assault (77.5%), and with a history of psychiatric disorder (72.5%). The population of offenders also displayed an overrepresentation of schizophrenia (87.5%), significant toxic exposure and criminal or violent history. Some patients had attempted suicide before or right after the offense. The assault was mostly committed in the parent's house with an edged weapon, and was characterized by brutality and lack of premeditation. Precipitating factors included substance use and cessation of psychotropic medication. Matricide was more frequent than patricide. At the time of this study, half of the parricidal patients were working or attending therapeutic activities, and most were actively keeping in contact with their family, living as compliant outpatients with no signs of violent behavior. The results of our study on 40 parricidal patients are consistent with data in the literature. With regard to sample evolution, family and community reintegration was relatively effective considering the seriousness of the offense. Several biases in our study disallow the generalization of these findings, and further studies are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Raymond
- UMD Henri Colin, EPS Paul Guiraud, Villejuif, France.
| | - A S Léger
- UMD Henri Colin, EPS Paul Guiraud, Villejuif, France
| | - B Lachaux
- UMD Henri Colin, EPS Paul Guiraud, Villejuif, France
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Campobasso CP, Laviola D, Grattagliano I, Strada L, Dell'Erba AS. Undetected patricide: Inaccuracy of cause of death determination without an autopsy. J Forensic Leg Med 2015; 34:67-72. [PMID: 26165662 DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2015.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2015] [Revised: 05/05/2015] [Accepted: 05/20/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Patricide (killing the father) is uncommon form of homicide. Usually the assaults occur at home in the absence of witnesses and adult sons are frequently involved. Homicides in a domestic context usually do not tend to recurrence, because the motivation for the crime ends with the death of the parent. However, this is not what was observed in the present case study dealing with the death of a 70 years old white man originally misclassified as accident and discovered three years later only after an additional homicide in a family context of a 60 years old white lady. Multiple stab wounds to the neck and thorax were misinterpreted at the external male body examination as blunt trauma falling down stairs. No forensic autopsy was requested and no comparison of medical findings with the results from the death scene, such as a bloodstain analysis was performed by the police officers nor required by the judicial authority. This was quite surprising because an additional but preliminary post-mortem external examination performed by a general practitioner on the male body already raised the suspicion that the external lesions were stab wounds thus requiring a forensic autopsy. Only the exhumation of the elderly body, performed years later, confirmed the diagnostic hypothesis raised by the first physician. The present case is quite representative of a death investigation not run professionally and performed by individuals with no specific training where most of the medico-legal investigations (especially for traumatic and violent deaths) are restricted to an external body examination without subsequent autopsy. Although misinterpretation of external lesions is inevitable and significant discrepancies between external body examination and forensic autopsy are not rare, in the case of contradictory results of post-mortem external examination or unclear/suspicious cause and manner of death, investigation should proceed necessarily with a forensic autopsy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlo P Campobasso
- Dept. of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Molise, via De Sanctis, 86100 Campobasso, Italy.
| | - Domenica Laviola
- Section of Legal Medicine, Dep of Interdisciplinary Medicine (DIM), University of Bari, Policlinico, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Ignazio Grattagliano
- Section of Forensic Psychiatry, Dep of Interdisciplinary Medicine (DIM), University of Bari, Policlinico, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Luigi Strada
- Section of Legal Medicine, Dep of Interdisciplinary Medicine (DIM), University of Bari, Policlinico, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Alessandro S Dell'Erba
- Section of Legal Medicine, Dep of Interdisciplinary Medicine (DIM), University of Bari, Policlinico, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy
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Heide KM. Patricide and steppatricide victims and offenders: an empirical analysis of U.S. arrest data. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OFFENDER THERAPY AND COMPARATIVE CRIMINOLOGY 2014; 58:1261-1278. [PMID: 23824083 DOI: 10.1177/0306624x13495168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Almost all of the literature on male parricide victims focuses on fathers killed with only little information available on stepparents killed. This study is the first to compare the victim, offender, and case correlates in incidents when fathers and stepfathers were killed. Supplementary Homicide Report data were used for the period 1976 to 2007 to investigate similarities and differences between the two male victim parricide types in the United States. Similarities between fathers and stepfathers included more than 80% of fathers and stepfathers were killed in single victim, single offender homicides. Their killers were adult sons and stepsons in more than 70% of the cases. Juvenile offenders were significantly less likely to be involved in the killings of fathers and stepfathers in more recent years. Significant differences emerged with respect to age and weapon use in the killings of fathers and stepfathers. Stepfathers and stepchildren, relative to fathers and their offspring, were significantly younger. Juvenile offenders were significantly more likely than their adult counterparts to use firearms to kill fathers (79% vs. 54%) and stepfathers (72% vs. 58%). Significant gender differences in weapons used to kill fathers were found among juvenile and adult offenders, with males more likely to use firearms than females. Reasons for the possible differences are discussed in the conclusion.
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Walsh JA, Krienert JL. My brother's reaper: examining officially reported siblicide incidents in the United States, 2000-2007. VIOLENCE AND VICTIMS 2014; 29:523-540. [PMID: 25069154 DOI: 10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-13-00032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
With higher rates than any other form of intrafamilial violence, Hoffman and Edwards (2004) note, sibling violence "constitutes a pandemic form of victimization of children, with the symptoms often going unrecognized and the effect ignored" (p. 187). Approximately 80% of children reside with at least one sibling (Kreider, 2008), and in its most extreme form sibling violence manifests as siblicide. Siblicide is poorly understood with fewer than 20 empirical studies identified in the extant literature since 1980 (see Eriksen & Jensen, 2006). The present work employs 8 years of Supplemental Homicide Report (SHR) data, 2000-2007, with siblicide victims and offenders age 21 years and younger, to construct contemporary victim and offender profiles examining incident characteristics. Findings highlight the sex-based nature of the offense with unique victimization patterns across victims and offenders. Older brothers using a firearm are the most frequent offenders against both male and female siblings. Strain as a theoretical foundation of siblicide is offered as an avenue for future inquiry.
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Shon PCH, Williams CR. An Archival Exploration of 19th-Century American Adult Female Offender Parricides. OMEGA-JOURNAL OF DEATH AND DYING 2013; 67:247-68. [DOI: 10.2190/om.67.3.a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Social and behavioral scientists have increasingly attended to the contexts and motivational dynamics underlying parricidal events. These efforts notwithstanding, most research has focused on adolescent or adult male offender populations. One largely neglected area of study is that of adult female offender parricide. The present study utilizes archival records to examine the contexts and sources of conflict that gave rise to adult female offender parricides in the late 19th century. Three general themes emerged, representing the primary contexts behind adult female offender parricide: (1) abuse and neglect; (2) instrumental, financially-motivated killings; and (3) expressive killings, often during the course of arguments. Each of these contexts is explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phillip Chong Ho Shon
- Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.
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Heide KM. Matricide and stepmatricide victims and offenders: an empirical analysis of U.S. arrest data. BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW 2013; 31:203-214. [PMID: 23558726 DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Almost all of the clinical and empirical literature on female parricide victims focuses on mothers killed, with only little information available on stepmothers murdered. This study is the first to compare the victim, offender, and case correlates in incidents when mothers and stepmothers were killed. Supplementary Homicide Report Data for 1976-2007 were used to investigate similarities and differences between the two female victim types in the United States. Similarities between stepmothers and mothers included that more than 70% were White and killed in single victim, single offender incidents. Their killers were adult sons in between 67% and 87% of incidents. Several significant differences emerged with respect to age, involvement in multiple offender incidents, and weapon use. Stepmothers and their stepchildren, relative to mothers and their offspring, were significantly younger. Sixty-four percent of stepchildren, compared with 35% of biological children, were under age 25 at the time of their arrest for murder. A higher percentage of juveniles than adult killers was involved in multiple offender (MO) incidents involving mothers. Relative to their male counterparts, higher percentages of female juveniles were involved in MO incidents involving the deaths of mothers and stepmothers. A higher proportion of female adults, relative to their male counterparts, were involved in MO matricide incidents. Offenders who killed stepmothers, relative to those who killed mothers, were significantly more likely to use guns. Juvenile matricide offenders were significantly more likely to use firearms than their adult counterparts. Possible reasons for the differences are discussed in the conclusion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen M Heide
- Department of Criminology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, Social Sciences Room 107, Tampa, FL 33620-8100, USA.
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Liettu A, Säävälä H, Hakko H, Joukamaa M, Räsänen P. Weapons used in serious violence against a parent: retrospective comparative register study. Scand J Public Health 2012; 40:563-70. [PMID: 22872599 DOI: 10.1177/1403494812455731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
AIMS Our aim was to compare the weapons used in lethal or potentially lethal violence against parents according to the age (adolescent vs. adult) of the offender and victim (mother vs. father) of the offence. METHOD All forensic psychiatric examination statements of male offenders who had offended violently against one of their parents during 1973-2004 in Finland (n=192) were reviewed retrospectively. Data on the weapons used by adolescent and adult offenders in relation to the sex of the victim, mental disorder, criminal responsibility and intelligence were gathered. RESULTS In the whole sample, sharp-edged weapons were the most commonly used weapons. Firearms were more commonly used in offences against fathers (i.e. patricidal offences) than against mothers (i.e. matricidal offences). Adolescent offenders were more likely to use firearms than adult offenders in violent acts against a parent. Among personality-disordered subjects, patricidal offenders used firearms more commonly than did matricidal offenders. Homicidal matricidal offenders had higher full-scale and verbal IQ scores as compared to homicidal patricidal offenders. The matricidal offenders using firearms were shown to be more intelligent as measured by full-scale and verbal scale IQs than the patricidal offenders using firearms. CONCLUSIONS Consistent with the physical strength hypothesis, firearms are used more often in lethal or potentially lethal violence against parents by adolescents than by adults in Finland. As firearms legislation in Finland is currently under reform the study findings suggest that restriction of gun availability may have an influence on intrafamilial homicides, particularly those committed by adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anu Liettu
- Department of Psychiatry,University of Oulu, Finland.
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Shon PCH, Roberts MA. An archival exploration of homicide--suicide and mass murder in the context of 19th-century American parricides. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OFFENDER THERAPY AND COMPARATIVE CRIMINOLOGY 2010; 54:43-60. [PMID: 18974260 DOI: 10.1177/0306624x08324472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
There has been little attempt to integrate contemporary studies of suicide and mass murder to homicide-suicides. The current research attempts to do so in the context of 19th-century parricides in America. This project uses archival records from The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, 1851-1899, resulting in a total of 231 incidents. Our results indicate that parricides, mass murders, and suicides tended to originate as spontaneous acts, usually during the course of an argument, gathering momentum as the interaction unfolded. We contend that suicide is one way of alleviating threats to offender's loss of self-identity.
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Shon PCH. Weapon Usage in Attempted and Completed Parricides in Nineteenth-Century America: An Archival Exploration of the Physical Strength Hypothesis. J Forensic Sci 2010; 55:232-6. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01210.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Léveillée S, Marleau J, Lefebvre J. Passage à l’acte familicide et filicide: deux réalités distinctes? EVOLUTION PSYCHIATRIQUE 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evopsy.2007.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Abstract
Matricide, the killing of mothers by their biological children, is a very rare event, comprising less that 2% of all U.S. homicides in which the victim-offender relationship is known. This manuscript examines more than 20 years of U.S. homicides to determine the age and gender characteristics of matricide offenders. These data reveal that most mothers are killed by their adult sons. Daughters younger than 18 years are the most infrequent killers of mothers. This article examines the incidence of parricide, the involvement of sons and daughters in matricidal incidents, and synthesizes the literature in terms of offender gender. Special attention is given to female matricide offenders, given the lack of research currently available with respect to this population. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen M Heide
- Department of Criminology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA.
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Shon PCH. Sources of Conflict Between Parents and Their Offspring in Nineteenth-Century American Parricides: An Archival Exploration. JOURNAL OF FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY PRACTICE 2009. [DOI: 10.1080/15228930902935677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Walsh JA, Krienert JL. A decade of child-initiated family violence: comparative analysis of child--parent violence and parricide examining offender, victim, and event characteristics in a national sample of reported incidents, 1995-2005. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2009; 24:1450-1477. [PMID: 18768742 DOI: 10.1177/0886260508323661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
This article examines 11 years (1995-2005) of National Incident Based Reporting System data comparing victim, offender, and incident characteristics for two types of child-initiated family violence: child-parent violence (CPV) and parricide. The objective is to better understand the victim-offender relationship for CPV and parricide and to highlight distinguishing features between the two offenses. This work extends the research and addresses shortcomings in the extant literature. Data analysis consists of chi-square tests and logistic regression. Findings suggest that CPV and parricide are distinct and unique crimes. In short, parricide offenders and victims are both older than CPV offenders and victims, with CPV offenders more likely to be female, more likely to be African American, and less likely to use a weapon than parricide offenders. The study calls for future research and exploration of preliminary support for a family violence escalation hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey A Walsh
- Department of Criminal Justice Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61791, USA.
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Heide KM, Petee TA. Parricide: an empirical analysis of 24 years of U.S. data. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2007; 22:1382-1399. [PMID: 17925288 DOI: 10.1177/0886260507305526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Empirical analysis of homicides in which children have killed parents has been limited. The most comprehensive statistical analysis involving parents as victims was undertaken by Heide and used Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data for the 10-year period 1977 to 1986. This article provides an updated examination of characteristics of victims, offenders, and offenses in parricide incidents using SHR data for the 24-year period 1976 to 1999. The analysis proceeds in two stages. First, offense (homicide circumstances), victim (age, race), and offender (age, race, sex) correlates are reported. Second, juvenile involvement in incidents in which parents were killed is examined and a determination is made whether changes in youth involvement in parricide offenses are discernible over the 24-year period. The article concludes with a comparison of findings that emerged from 24 years of data with those from the earlier 10-year period and the discussion of the significance of these findings.
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Heide KM, Petee TA. Weapons used by juveniles and adult offenders in U.S. parricide cases. JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2007; 22:1400-1414. [PMID: 17925289 DOI: 10.1177/0886260507305528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
In recent decades, attention has focused on juveniles who kill their parents. Research has indicated that increases in juvenile homicide have been associated with the availability of firearms, but little is known about the weapons juveniles use to kill their parents and whether their weapon usage is different from that of adult children who kill their parents. This article uses Supplementary Homicide Report data for the 24-year period 1976 to 1999 to investigate weapons selected by parricide offenders to kill biological mothers and fathers. Significant differences were found in the weapons used in matricide and patricide incidents and in the weapons selected by juvenile and adult offenders. A comparison with an earlier study by Heide revealed that weapon usage in parricide events is stable. Differences found in both studies between weapons used to kill parents and offender age are consistent with a physical strength hypothesis proposed by Heide in 1993.
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