Double Parricide: An In‐Depth Look at Two Victim Homicides Involving Parents as Victims

Abstract

The majority of studies examining the killing of parents and step-parents by biological and stepchildren involve a single victim and single offender. Little is known when parricide incidents involve multiple victims or multiple offenders. Using the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), this study examined double parricide incidents involving single or multiple offenders over the 20-year period 1991-2010 with the aim of investigating juvenile and adult involvement. Forty-five incidents of double parricide were identified and verified; in 35 of these cases, the offenders acted alone. Frequencies reported include offender, victim, and incident characteristics. The results indicated that the typical double parricide offender who acted alone was a White male approximately 30 years of age. When multiple offenders were involved, the offenders tended to be younger and were more likely to include a female accomplice. Newspapers were utilized to augment available case information. Study limitations, implications, and directions for future research are also discussed.

Characteristics for the Identification of Children Who Commit Family Murder in South Africa

“…In this study, the murders were predominantly committed by male offenders, as was also found in the literature (Barnett, Miller-Perrin, & Perrin, 2011; Fegadel & Heide, 2015). The offenders in this study all lived with the murdered family member(s) at the time of the murders; this was often reported in the literature as well (Dantas et al, 2014).…”

“…Family murders are predominantly committed by single perpetrators with a single victim (Fegadel & Heide, 2015). When women commit these crimes, they often have an accomplice (Heide, 1993).…”

“…Murder is seen by many as the most serious of all crimes, but when murder is committed by a young person, it is often even harder to comprehend. Family murder is the intentional and unlawful act of murdering a mother, father, or close family member (Fegadel & Heide, 2015; Shon & Lee, 2016). In this study, family murder referred to the murder of a close family member such as a father, mother, or sibling, as well as adoptive parents and extended family members.…”

Parricide in England and Wales (1977–2012): An exploration of offenders, victims, incidents and outcomes

“…However, almost a third of parricides that involve multiple offenders involve females as the ‘principal offender’, and there is a significant relationship between the offenders’ gender and whether other offenders are involved. In the United States, where similar findings have emerged (Heide, 2013), analysis of the corresponding news reports suggests that girls and women may be more likely to recruit boyfriends and partners to help them carry out the killing of their parent (Fegadel and Heide, 2015).…”

Adopted children who kill their adoptive parents

“…Indeed, the three national data sets available in the United States (the Uniform Crime Report (UCR), Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), and National Incident‐Based Reporting System (NIBRS)) do not contain codes for adoption when describing the offender to victim relationship. Therefore, much of what is known about parricide is limited to biological children who have killed their parents or stepparents (Fegadel & Heide, ; Heide, , , , ).…”