Filicide:Parents Who Kill

Daughter May Sue Fritzl for Compensation

newser | Reuters | May 6, 08 4:58 PM CDT

Austrian incest victim Elisabeth Fritzl may sue her father for compensation, Reuters reports. "There is the possibility of claiming compensation for imprisonment and the damage that has been incurred by it," said a lawyer for Fritzl, whose father/captor reportedly is deeply in debt. "Now it is all about evaluating his financial circumstances. Does he actually have any wealth?" More »

Dad Kills 3 Kids in Hotel Room, Calls Front Desk

newser | Baltimore Sun | Mar 31, 08 9:00 AM CDT

A man involved in a bitter custody battle murdered his three children in a Baltimore hotel yesterday afternoon, then called the front desk to report it, the Baltimore Sun reports. Police still aren’t sure how Mark Castillo killed the children, aged 6, 4, and 2; there was no evidence of stabbing or gunshot wounds. More »
Mother and 4 Kids Killed in Iowa Home

newser | Daily Iowan | Mar 25, 08 5:31 AM CDT

A mother and her four children were found dead in their Iowa City home yesterday by police who received an anonymous tip, reports the Daily Iowan . Minutes later, cops responded to a nearby highway crash involving a car belonging to the father of the family, Stephen Sueppel. The dead driver remains unidentified due to severe burns. More »

Dad Charged in Muslim Teen's Death

newser | London Free Press (Canada) | Dec 12, 07 10:40 AM CST

A devout Muslim father will appear in a Canadian court today, charged with murdering his 16-year-old daughter—allegedly over her refusal to wear a traditional headscarf, reports the London Free Press. Muhammad Parvez, a Pakistani taxi driver, called police Monday morning, saying he had killed his daughter Aqsa. The death has sparked debate about religious extremism in Canada. More »

Wrestler and Family Killed in Murder-Suicide

newser | Associated Press | Jun 26, 07 4:37 AM CDT

A professional wrestler was found dead yesterday with his wife and 7-year old son in what authorities are calling a murder-suicide. Investigators believe Chris Benoit, 40, killed his family over the weekend in their secluded Georgia home before committing suicide yesterday. A neighbor alerted police, who discovered the bodies in three different rooms. More »
Twin Infants Among 6 Dead in Family Massacre

newser | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Jun 11, 07 4:39 AM CDT

Two infant twin boys are among six dead in a Wisconsin massacre that appears to be a murder-suicide. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports a two-year-old girl, found in a van outside the house, survived the slaughter after being shot in the chest. The children's father and a 19-year-old woman were among those killed. More »

Mom, 3 Girls Found Dead in Mobile Home

newser | Houston Chronicle | May 29, 07 1:55 PM CDT

The bodies of a woman and her four young daughters were found hanging in a closet in the Oak Hills mobile home park in Texas this morning, all dead except the youngest girl, an 8-month-old. More »

When Parents Kill.

Slate | Mar 12, 02

Women do not, by and large, make terrific criminals. In the United States, women commit only two crimes as frequently as men. The first is shoplifting. The second is the murder of their own children. Andrea Yates, the Houston mother whose trial for the murders of three of her children ends today, and Marilyn Lemak, the Chicago nurse recently convicted of killing her three children, are not at all statistical anomalies. Somehow, women—who commit less than 13 percent of all violent crimes in the United States—commit about 50 percent of all parental murders.

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