Parricide: A Comparative Study of Matricide Versus Patricide | Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Parricide: A Comparative Study of Matricide Versus Patricide Dominique Bourget, Pierre Gagné and Mary‐Eve Labelle Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online September 2007, 35 (3) 306-312; Dominique Bourget PDF Abstract Between 1990 and 2005, 64 parents were killed by their children in the province of Quebec, Canada. The authors reviewed all consecutive coroners' files on these cases and found that 27 mothers and 37 fathers were the victims of parricide. The sample included 56 perpetrators: 52 sons and 4 daughters; 9 cases of double parricide were found. Approximately 15 percent of the perpetrators (8/56) attempted suicide following the parricide. A psychiatric motive (stemming from depression or psychotic illness) was determined for 65.5 percent (36/56) of the perpetrators, and 67 percent of them had a psychotic disorder.

Similarities and differences were found between cases of matricide and patricide. Five hundred forty‐eight homicides were recorded in Canada in 2000. 1 About one‐quarter (27%) of those homicides took place in Quebec, of which 42 (28%) occurred in an intrafamilial context. A parent was the victim in only three (7%) cases, 1 illustrating the rarity of this type of homicide. Because parental homicide (also referred to as parricide) is an event with a low base rate, it presents a research challenge. For that reason, most of the literature on parricide consists of anecdotal case reports and small‐cohort studies. The largest studies are those by Devaux et al., 2 who reviewed 61 cases recorded between 1958 and 1967, and by Clark 3 and Green, 4 who reported on 26 and 58 cases of matricide, respectively. Early explanations for parricide were predominantly psychodynamic interpretations. These theories included suggestions that the murderous impulse to kill a parent might have oedipal origins, as a defense against hostility or incestuous desires.

2 , 5 – 9 Some have hypothesized that an unresolved incestuous conflict or a parent‐victim who mistreats the child excessively may push the child to the point of explosive violence. 8 , 10 In their study of 10 men charged with patricide, Singhal and Dutta 11 found that their fathers had been significantly more punitive than their mothers, and that the mothers had been overprotective and more tolerant than the fathers. The authors concluded that persons who commit patricide have an unusual, often difficult relationship with their fathers. 11 According to O'Connell, 12 a son who kills his mother is usually an unmarried, unambitious young man with an intense relationship with his mother, a feeling of social inferiority, and an absent or passive father. Similarly, Campion et al. 7 suggested that men who commit matricide feel weak, hopeless, and dependent, and are unable to accept a separate, mature male role.

In a review of 17 cases of female parricide in Europe between 1977 and 1986, d'Orban and O'Connor 6 noted that the social situation of the mothers killed by their daughters was characterized by marked isolation. Psychiatric explanations as to why a person might murder his or her parents arise from indications of a high rate of mental illness, primarily depressive or psychotic disorders, in parricide perpetrators. 13 – 16 The risk of parricide may increase with the presence of unidentified mental illness 14 or a lack of appropriate treatment for individuals with a psychiatric history. 15 A review of the literature indicates several factors that are associated with parricide. It is nearly always committed by sons, 2 , 5 , 17 – 20 with matricide by sons the most common form of parricide in Canada. 21 Perpetrators of parricide are often younger than 30, 2 , 19 and many are single. 3 , 4 , 12 , 15 The parricide is usually committed in the victim's house.

4 , 7 Perpetrators often reside with the victim and frequently use painful methods and excessive violence in committing the murder. 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 The perpetrators' most common diagnosis is schizophrenia, 2 – 4 , 6 , 7 , 11 with active symptoms of psychosis present at the time of the parricide. 2 , 3 , 7 , 15 , 17 , 20 , 22 Persecutory paranoid motivation is often evident. 4 Among schizophrenics, matricide occurs more often than patricide. 2 While both matricide and patricide may be associated with schizophrenia, Bluglass 23 suggested that daughters who murder their mothers are invariably schizophrenic. Devaux et al. 2 reported that 17 percent of the perpetrators studied attempted suicide after the offense; the parricide‐suicide dynamic was more frequent in the cases of schizophrenic persons. Maas et al. 24 noted that the fathers of patients charged with both patricide and matricide were killed before the mothers. To date, few comparative studies of parricide have been performed.

Of the existing studies, those that included control groups compared a group of parricide offenders to a group of hospitalized persons with chronic schizophrenia 6 and a group of female parricide offenders to a group of female filicide offenders. 11 These comparisons have not resulted in a clear delineation of the dynamics of parental homicide. Our objective was to examine the similarities and differences between samples of cases of matricide and patricide, to clarify factors that may be characteristic of parricide committed by men versus those characteristic of the same crime committed by women. Methods In an examination of coroners' files from the province of Quebec from 1990 to 2005, we identified 64 cases of parents murdered by their own children. Fathers were murdered by their son or daughter in 37 cases, and mothers were murdered in 27. All records, including medical and psychiatric records when available, were reviewed and compiled by the same two investigators, both of whom are coroners and psychiatrists. Autopsy reports were examined.

The design of this descriptive study raised no ethics‐related concerns, and the conduct of the study was granted authorization by the Office of the Coroner and the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research Ethics Board. Results Between 1990 and 2005 we recorded 720 victims of domestic homicide in Quebec. There were 64 parricides, with an average of 4 victims and a range of 2 to 7 victims yearly. Parricide accounted for nine percent of all homicides occurring in a domestic context. Sons were by far the most frequent perpetrators of parricide (52/56, 92.8%). The larger sample of men who committed parricide allowed us to compare male matricide to male patricide. The female parricide offenders murdered mothers in three cases and a father in one case. The victims ranged in age from 50 to 90 years. Although the female parricide sample is small (n = 4), some of the results specific to this sample will be reported to illustrate this rare phenomenon.

Parricides by Sons Characteristics of Victims As shown in Table 1 , the male parricide victims (n = 60) included 36 (60%) cases of patricide and 24 (40%) cases of matricide. The matricide victims ranged in age from 40 to 95, with a mean age of 61.2 years (SD 15.1). The patricide victims were aged between 41 and 87 years (mean, 61.6; SD 11.5). Most of the victims were between 60 and 70 years of age with no significant difference in age between male and female victims. Only one victim had a psychiatric history, two had a history of violence, and four had a history of substance abuse. View this table: Demographic Characteristics of Male Parricide Victims Characteristics of Offenses Matricide. Almost all of the matricides occurred in the family home (22/24, 91.7%). A majority (17/24, 70.8%) of perpetrators were living with the parents at the time of the offense.

The most common method of killing was use of a blunt instrument (8/24, 33.3%), followed by use of a knife (7/24, 29.2%) or a firearm (5/24, 20.8%). Other methods used were strangulation and carbon monoxide intoxication (2/24 and 1/24, respectively). A homicide‐suicide dynamic was present in seven (29.2%) cases, and 13 percent (3/24) of perpetrators were intoxicated at the time of committing matricide. Three quarters of the matricides occurred without a warning sign (18/24, 75%). Although four of those perpetrators had had prior contact with a psychiatrist or a physician, the homicidal impulse was either not yet present or had not been disclosed. There was one case of retrograde amnesia following a matricide. Patricide.

Consistent with the cases of matricide, most of the patricides occurred in the family residence (34/36, 94.4%) and many perpetrators (21/36, 58.3%) resided with their parents at the time of their murderous acts. The most common method of killing was by use of a knife (12/36, 33.3%) followed by use of a firearm (10/36, 27.8%), blunt instrument (8/36, 22.2%), strangulation (3/36, 8.3%), or intoxication or beating (both 1/36, 2.8%). In six (16.7%) instances, the perpetrator also attempted or committed suicide, and 19.5 percent (7/36) of perpetrators who committed patricide were intoxicated. In contrast to the matricides, a lower number of patricides occurred without a warning sign (25/36, 69.4%), and only 8.3 percent (3/36) of the perpetrators had had contact with a psychiatrist or a physician.

Characteristics of Perpetrators The ages of the offenders ranged from 14 to 58 years, with a mean age of 31.4 (SD 11.5). Table 2 provides more details. Seventy percent (17/24) of perpetrators who committed matricide had a psychotic motive (i.e., delusional thinking) compared with 63.9 percent (23/36) of those who committed patricide. The difference between psychotic motive and sex of the victim is not statistically significant. Only 2 (8.3%) of the 24 who killed their mothers had no psychotic motive, while 11.1 percent (4/36) of those who killed their fathers had no psychotic motive. A motive was unknown for five of the matricides (20.9%) and for nine (25%) of the patricides.

For both matricide and patricide offenders, the most common Axis I diagnosis was schizophrenia or other psychosis (54.2% for matricides; 46% for patricides), followed by depression (16.7% for matricides; 13.9% for patricides) and intoxication (4.2% for matricides; 5.6% for patricides). Substance abuse other than acute intoxication was found in one (2.8%) case of patricide. It is interesting to note that 8.3 percent (2/24) of matricide and 5.6 percent (2/36) of patricide perpetrators were found not to have an Axis I mental disorder. View this table: Demographic Characteristics of Male Parricide Offenders Parricides by Daughters As female parricide is extremely rare, samples are not sufficient to use as a comparison group. Table 3 offers some limited elements of comparison. According to an investigation by d'Orban and O'Connor, 6 some features of matricide by daughters show a close similarity to matricide by sons.

Specifically, female matricide perpetrators were women in midlife living alone with an elderly, domineering mother in marked social isolation. The mother‐daughter relationship was characterized by mutual hostility and dependence, and the killing was often performed with extreme violence. 6 View this table: Table 3 Characteristics of Parricide Victims and Parricide Offenders We found four cases of parricide by women in our study. The first was a severely intoxicated woman in her early 30s who killed her elderly mother with a knife. In the second case, a woman in her 50s killed her elderly father by administering a variety of intoxicating substances. This woman had attempted suicide and had a diagnosis of depression. The third case involved a female in her late teens who killed her middle‐aged mother with a firearm. Upon initial assessment, the daughter presented psychotic symptoms. In the fourth case, a psychotic woman in her mid‐30s strangled her elderly mother. All four cases of female parricide occurred in the family home where both victim and daughter resided.

Discussion Unlike many studies in which samples of homicidal offenders incarcerated after the parricide were examined, the present study included all cases of parricide that occurred within a specific time frame in a territory with a population of approximately 7.5 million. Canada has a population of approximately 32 million; Quebec is the second largest province. Approximately one‐fifth of the total homicides nationwide are perpetrated in Quebec (rate of 1.34 homicides per 100,000). Our sample also included instances in which the offender had committed suicide. While this allowed a complete sampling of the parricides and collection of more complete data, the disadvantage was that the four offenders who had committed suicide could not be assessed after their murderous acts. In contrast to the results of d'Orban and O'Connor, 6 we found that patricide occurred more frequently than matricide (57.8% patricides; 42.2% matricides). In addition, in contrast to the findings of McKnight, 21 patricide by sons outnumbered matricide by sons (60% versus 40%) in our study.

The 60‐ to 69‐year age group contained the highest number of victims: 13 men and 10 women (including two killed by a daughter). Most offenders were living with their victims at the time of the parricide (17/24, 70.8% matricides versus 21/36, 58.3% patricides). Geographical proximity may have been a risk factor in those cases that involved a dispute or strained familial context. It is noted that four adult perpetrators had only recently moved back to their parents' homes after separation from their spouses. Many offenders with schizophrenia had a high degree of psychosocial impairment and were never able to live independently. Our comparison revealed that matricides were more often preceded by a psychiatric or psychological contact than were patricides (4/24, 16.7% matricides versus 3/36, 8.3% patricides), but the difference was not statistically significant.

Matricide perpetrators were less often intoxicated than those who committed patricide (3/24, 12.6% for matricides; 7/36, 19.5% for patricides). There was no criminal history of parricide perpetrators as indicated by police records. Two‐thirds (67%) of the male parricide offenders in our sample were motivated by delusional thinking. Two males presented with Capgras syndrome (misidentification syndrome) and believed that their parent victims had been replaced by impostors. Attempts to do physical harm to the misidentified person are believed to stem from the individual's belief that the imagined imposter in some way threatens his or her welfare. 25 Aggressive behavior may be facilitated because the individual no longer views the misidentified person as a close relative. 13 Other studies confirm that patients with Capgras syndrome are more likely to adopt violent behavior or to commit parricide. 10 , 13 , 25 , 26 In eight instances, the victims' bodies were decapitated or mutilated, particularly their genitals. Of the six male murderers who mutilated the bodies of their victims, five were known to be schizophrenic.

Perpetrators had not displayed positive psychotic symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations but had demonstrated irrational, disorganized behavior leading up to the offense. Of interest, two instances involved a double parricide. Double parricide occurs rarely and has received little attention to date. Studies of double parricide indicate that most adult perpetrators (nearly always male) are actively psychotic at the time of the offense or have an antisocial motive for their actions (e.g., monetary gain). 24 , 27 A recent study of 11 men who committed double parricide found no single motive for the crime: six (54%) offenses occurred because of longstanding intrafamilial conflict, one involved a robbery, and another four (36%) involved delusional thinking at the time of the offense. 27 Our sample included nine cases of double parricide. Severe psychopathology was prevalent in this group, with seven (77.7%) diagnosed with schizophrenia (6/7) or depression (1/7). About half (5/9) had attempted suicide; three were successful. Most of the offenders in our sample were actively psychotic. The other two had expected to gain money from their actions.

Twenty‐nine cases involved overkill, the use of an excessive amount of destructive violence. These murders were committed mostly by males (96.5%) diagnosed with schizophrenia (62%). One man (3.4%) had depression. Two men and one woman (10%) were severely intoxicated at the time of the offense. Only one (3.4%) of the offenders who used overkill had no psychiatric diagnosis, and five (17.2%) were undetermined due to lack of information. Poor impulse control and loss of inhibition may result from a frontal lobe problem, and the elevated degree of impulsive violence found in cases of overkill associated with a diagnosis of schizophrenia raise an interesting question about the integrity of frontal lobe function in those individuals. Several studies using various investigative techniques have examined the question of frontal lobe dysfunction in connection with schizophrenia. 28 – 37 Findings in neuroimaging studies indicate the presence of subtle structural and functional abnormalities.

33 – 40 There is evidence of structural abnormalities in the amygdalae of men with schizophrenia and a history of violent behavior 33 and of impaired connectivity between the orbitofrontal cortex and the amygdala that was associated with impulsivity and aggressive behavior in schizophrenic men. 37 As orbital and medial areas are interlinked with limbic and reticular systems, damage to these areas can cause disinhibition and changes of affect. 41 In a functional brain imaging study, Spalletta et al. 35 found significantly reduced prefrontal regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during completion of a measure of executive functioning among violent inpatients compared with those classified as nonviolent. These investigators suggested that reduced prefrontal rCBF may underlie a loss of inhibition that could lead to aggression. The term pseudopsychopathic has been used to describe a syndrome in which disinhibition leads to abnormal behavior, sometimes associated with outbursts of irritability and aggression. 41 Comparative studies examining the brains of violent, homicidal offenders with and without schizophrenia and analyzing the relationship between neuroanatomical findings and neurobehavioral aspects are likely to benefit our understanding of the illness and expression of violence in sporadic cases.

We found 11 cases of parricide in which the victim was more than 75 years of age. Of these cases, three (27.3%) perpetrators were significantly depressed and motivated by compassion over actual distress or pain experienced by the parent victim. The methods used by these offenders were considered nonviolent. Most died of carbon monoxide intoxication. The gender of victims was evenly distributed in the elderly victims group (six men, five women). Parricide of an elderly parent was strongly associated with a depressive or psychotic motivation (9/11, 81.8%). In two (2/11, 18.2%) cases, the motivation was unclear. In addition to the three cases of depression, a significant proportion of offenders had a psychotic condition (6/11, 54.6%). Some parricides occurred in the context of a conspiracy (3/64, 4.7%), anticipated monetary gain (4/64, 6.2%), or a history of mistreatment of the murderers by the victims (3/64, 4.7%). In these latter instances, only one perpetrator had a schizophrenic illness, while the others had no diagnosis.

Some parricides occurred following an argument (10/64, 15.6%). It is interesting to note that one‐third (3/10, 30%) of those perpetrators who killed in the heat of an argument or dispute were not found to have a mental illness. Two of them were severely intoxicated (20%) and three others were psychotic (30%). Data regarding mental status were not available for the other two perpetrators. Overall, the most common cause of parricide was psychosis with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but other factors such as the wealth of the victim, anger, or substance abuse were also involved in the offenses, albeit to a lesser degree. A substantial proportion (67%) of the parricides investigated in this study were motivated by delusional thinking, in keeping with previous research that found an association between homicidal violence and some symptoms of psychosis, including delusions, hallucinations, perceptual abnormalities, or severe disorganization of thinking and behavior.

14 , 15 , 42 – 44 The potential for violence toward others appears to be increased with persecutory delusions in particular, 4 , 45 – 47 and emotional distress may heighten the risk that persecutory delusions will motivate violence. 48 As mentioned earlier, five (83%) of the six offenders in our sample who had mutilated their victims' bodies displayed severely disorganized thought and behavior at the time of the offense. Clinicians are aware that severe disorganization of thinking and behavior is sometimes accompanied by unmodulated extreme affective discharges such as excitement or rage, and assaultive or homicidal conduct or self‐destructive behavior may be found in schizophrenic individuals with deficient impulse control. The risk of violence is increased with insufficient treatment of psychotic symptoms or nonadherence to prescribed antipsychotic medication. 15 , 44 In our study, 30 percent of the parricide offenders who were intoxicated at the time of the offense were psychotic. Comorbid substance abuse may increase the severity of psychotic symptoms and heighten the risk of homicide.

49 – 51 Severe depressive states, with or without recognizable psychotic symptoms, may also contribute to homicide, which is often viewed as an act of extended suicide, with an over‐representation of victims in the nuclear family and close relatives. 52 – 56 In more than one‐quarter (27%) of parricides involving elderly victims in our study, perpetrators were significantly depressed and wanted to commit suicide but did not want to abandon their victims. Conclusions Most research on parricide is retrospective and descriptive. To our knowledge, this is one of the largest retrospective studies of men and women who have committed parental homicide. We found that cases of matricide and patricide were similar in many respects. The significant prevalence of schizophrenia, the presence of psychosis, and the commission of psychotically motivated homicides suggest that psychosis associated with other characteristics in a child is a risk factor for parricide. Most cases occurred without warning or knowledge that anything was wrong with the killer. The tragedy could not be predicted.

However, in the cases in which warning signs were present, indicators such as a recent disorganization of behavior and significant worsening of a pre‐existing psychotic illness might be viewed as potential predictive factors in a young man with a history of prior assaultive behavior, especially within the family. We examined several cases in which it was established that the victim had feared for his life and sought help, but the concerns were not taken seriously. In contrast, there were cases in which the parent minimized the risk despite overt threats to his life. Clinicians treating individuals with schizophrenia would be wise to counsel significant family members who may sometimes be perceived negatively because they try to be helpful and promote treatment. A lack of insight and lack of medication compliance form part of a trail of clues leading to the parricide in these instances. Our study was limited by a relative lack of data; not all subjects could be individually examined by standardized assessors, who had to rely on available data. Moreover, the small sample size of female parricide offenders limits conclusive statements regarding differences between male and female parricide perpetrators. Our study nevertheless offers an indication of various factors that may be characteristic of parricides by men versus those by women.

Delineating similarities and differences between matricide and patricide might help to lay the groundwork for a profile of offenders that could assist in the assessment of parricide risk. Our study further highlights the role of psychosis in many cases of domestic homicide. As many of these cases progress through the next stage of legal resolution with verdicts to be rendered, data on the legal outcome are being collected. It will be interesting to find out how the legal system handles these cases, particularly in light of the fact that mental illness is so prevalent in this offender population. Although, based on our experience, murder in a family context is usually self‐contained with a low risk of violent recidivism, these cases call for a high level of services in the psychiatric and psychosocial areas. Acknowledgments This research was supported by the Quebec Coroner's Office, the University of Ottawa, and the University of Sherbrooke. American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law References Statistique Canada: Statistique de la Criminalité au Canada: 2000. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Statistique Canada, 2002 ↵ Devaux C, Petit G, Perol Y, et al: Enquête sur le parricide en France.

Ann Med Psychol 1:161–8, 1974 Q&A: Why kids kill parents - CBS News CBS News Q&A: Why kids kill parents Learn more about parricide, matricide and the behaviors behind the acts 2012 Jul 26 Facebook Comments Kathleen M. Heide, PhD is professor of criminology at the University of South Florida, Tampa. She has published two widely acclaimed books on juvenile homicide, "Why Kids Kill Parents: Child Abuse and Adolescent Homicide" and "Young Killers: The Challenge of Juvenile Homicide," and a third, coauthored with Linda Merz-Perez, on "Animal Cruelty: Pathway to Violence Against People." Her latest book, "Understanding Parricide: When Sons and Daughters Kill Parents" will be published by Oxford University Press in November 2012. She is a licensed mental health counselor and a court-appointed expert in matters relating to homicide, and children and families. She is a frequent consultant to the national print and electronic media and numerous international newspapers and magazines. TERMS Parricide: technically refers to the killing of a close relative but has become increasingly synonymous with a child killing his or her parents.

Matricide: term used to refer to the killing of one's mother. Patricide: term used to refer to the killing of one's father. STATISTICS How often do children kill parents, particularly mothers, in the United States? On the average, about five parents are killed by their biological children in the United States every week. Matricide and patricide are both very rare events when considered in terms of the thousands of individuals arrested every year for murder. Killings of mothers and fathers each constitute about 1 percent of all homicides in the United States in which the victim-offender relationship is known. Over the period of 1976-2007, 113 offenders were arrested on the average each year in connection with the killings of mothers. What are the characteristics of children who kill their mothers in the U.S.? The overwhelming majority of offspring arrested for killing mothers from 1976-2007 were adults (age 18 and older.) The percentage of matricide offenders who were adults averaged 84 percent over the 32-year period; juveniles (age 17 and under) made up only 16 percent of matricide offenders over the years.

Interestingly, the percentage involvement of females in arrests for matricide was higher for juveniles than adults. Daughters comprised nearly one out of four (23 percent) juveniles arrested for killing their mothers, compared to about one of six (16 percent) adults arrested for matricide. Approximately 82 percent of matricide offenders acted alone when they killed their mothers. On the average, in the period I studied, about 10 offenders were arrested each year for acting with codefendants to kill mothers. Important gender and age difference emerged in examining matricides in which codefendants were involved. Interestingly, 38 percent of the offenders involved in these multiple-offender incidents were females. Juveniles were significantly more likely than adult offenders to use accomplices in killing mothers (22 percent vs. 6 percent). Relative to males arrested for matricide, a significantly higher percentage of both juvenile females (44 percent vs. 16 percent) and adult females (13 percent vs. 5 percent) employed codefendants to kill mothers. About a dozen offenders each year were arrested for killing mothers and other victims during the same incident.

Those arrested in multiple-victim situations were male offenders in nearly 90 percent of the cases. Analyses of data from 1976-2007 provide no evidence that the incidence of matricide is increasing. Available data suggest, in contrast, that the killings of mothers, as well as fathers, have decreased over the last 30 years. Q&A What prompted your study of parricide? I began evaluating juvenile killers in the early 1980s. Some of these youths had killed their parents. When I heard the stories and investigated the backgrounds of youths who killed their mothers, fathers, or both parents, it was clear that abuse and neglect typically played a role in these killings. The cases of kids who killed parents were very different from adolescents who killed under other circumstances, such as during the commission of a robbery or a burglary. I found cases of young people killing their parents very disturbing and unsettling. I decided to write my first book, "Why Kids Kill Parents: Child Abuse and Adolescent Parricide," after receiving a phone call from "a good kid" who killed his mother and father. The record established that both parents were alcoholics and abused him for years.

During the phone call, the boy said, "Dr. Heide, someone has to tell the story about kids like me." Three petitions alleging abuse had been filed by the state social services agency in this case prior to the killings. This boy had been removed from the home for a period of time after it was established in court that that the parents had physically abused him. The boy was later returned to live with the parents. Nine months after the social services agency ended its supervision, this boy killed his parents. He was in the process of running away when the deadly confrontation happened. This adolescent was sentenced to life in prison by the same judge who had presided over the child abuse proceedings a few years before the killings. Your study says that youth parricide can not be predicted - are there no warning signs? It is not possible to predict that a particular boy or girl will kill a parent. The reason that parricide cannot be predicted is because parricide is such a statistically unusual event. For example, in 2010, law enforcement agencies across the United States reported to the FBI the victim-offender relationship for 12,996 of the14,748 victims classified as murdered during that year.

Of these, 107 were mothers and 135 were fathers slain by their biological children. These 242 victims represent about 2 percent of murder victims. Most of the offspring who killed their parents, as we have seen, were actually adult children, meaning they were over 18 years of age. Over the 32-year period examined, the number of juvenile parricide offenders was substantially lower. On the average, juveniles killed 31 fathers and 18 mothers per year. In addition to the small number of cases of parricides in relation to all homicides, studies have shown that it is hard to predict violent behavior, unless there is a history of violent behavior by a particular individual. Although it is not possible to predict that a youth will kill his or her parent, research has indicated there are certain factors, if present, that increase the likelihood of a youth killing a parent. These include: 1. The youth is raised in a chemically dependent or other dysfunctional family 2. An ongoing pattern of family violence exists in the home 3. Conditions in the home worsen, and violence escalates. 4. The youth becomes increasingly vulnerable to stressors in the home environment. 5.

A firearm is readily available in the home environment. When these conditions are present, parents or other adults need to take action to get help. When I see families in these situations, one of the first things I ask is whether there is a firearm in the home. If so, I advise the parents to remove the gun from the home until conditions improve substantially. My research and studies by others show that in the majority of cases, children and adolescents use guns to kill both fathers and mothers. My analyses of thousands of cases show that youths under 18 are significantly more likely to use firearms to kill their parents than adult offenders. Is there an age when a child is more likely to kill their parent (juvenile versus adult)? And is there an overwhelming motivation? There is no specific age. However, age is indeed relevant when looking at likely motivations or factors contributing to the homicide. Motivations for the killing are very important, as they are related to how much risk the parricide offender is to society and what should be done in terms of justice. Children and adolescents are most likely to kill to end abuse or to get their own way. Sometimes they kill because of severe mental illness.

However, severe mental illness is not as much of a factor with young parricide offenders as with older parricide offenders. Adults who kill their parents, particularly those who are middle-aged, are likely to kill their aging parents because of severe mental illness, such as psychosis or severe depression. They also kill for antisocial reasons, such as to get their parent's assets. Abuse alone is rarely the driving force for an older adult to kill a parent because a healthy adult has options a child under 18 does not have. A healthy adult, for example, can leave the home of the aging parent or cut ties with an abusive parent. When conditions warrant it, such as the deteriorating health of an aging parent, perhaps, complicated with substance abuse, a healthy adult can take action to have the parent hospitalized or put in a nursing facility. In your book and in your article, "Matricide: A Critique of the Literature," you profile three distinct categories of parricide offenders. Can you detail them for us?

From my review of others' reports and my own clinical evaluations, I have found that most cases can be categorized into three primary types of parricide offenders: the severely abused child, the dangerously antisocial child, and the severely mentally ill child. Among children, adolescents, and young adults, the severely abused child and the dangerously antisocial child are most common. Among older adults, the severely mentally ill and the dangerously antisocial types predominate. Severely abused children (SAC) kill their abusive parent to end the abuse. These individuals have been abused by their parent(s) for years. The abuse is typically known to others. SAC have sought help from others and, yet, the abuse has continued. They often have tried to run away, considered suicide, and, in some cases, have attempted to kill themselves. Over time, the violence in the home escalates and these individuals become increasingly stressed. They kill the abusive parent because they are terrified that they or other family members will be seriously harmed or killed. They are typically desperate and see no other way out but murder. These individuals typically have a longstanding history of depression and meet the diagnostic criteria for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Dangerously antisocial children (DAC) kill the parent to further their own goals. In these cases, the parent is an obstacle in their path to getting what they want. These individuals, for example, may kill to have more freedom, to continue dating a person to whom the parents object, and to inherit money they believe is eventually coming to them. DAC have a pattern of violating the rights of others when it suits them. Typically this behavioral pattern begins in childhood. Youths who continuously defy adults, do what they want on their own timeframe, and do not accept responsibility for their actions over a significant period of time will likely be diagnosed as having Oppositional Defiant Disorder. If this behavioral pattern is not corrected, the youth often will engage in criminal activities that may include violence towards people or animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft, and/or serious violations of rules by parents, such as staying out all night or being truant from school. At this point, the youth will likely be diagnosed as having a Conduct Disorder. If this pattern of violating the rights of others continues past age 18, it is likely that this individual may be diagnosed as having an Antisocial Personality Disorder.

This type of parricide offender is far more dangerous to society than the first in terms of re-offending and hurting other people in the future. Severely mentally ill children (SMIC) kill the parent largely as a result of severe mental illness. Diagnoses commonly made include psychosis and severe depression. A longstanding history of mental illness is generally easy to document in these cases. SMIC are typically on psychotropic medication and are most apt to kill when they stop taking it. They may kill the parent, for example, because they have delusions (bizarre and irrational beliefs) that the parent is the devil. They may report hearing God's voice commanding them (an hallucination -- false sensory experience) to kill the parent. How do you determine the type of parricide offender? Is it as straightforward as it seems? Determining the type of parricide offender is not as easy as it may seem. An accurate assessment takes time and serious study. The adage "You can't judge a book by its cover" often applies here. For example, in parricide cases involving young offenders, severe mental illness is typically ruled out. In many cases, the question becomes, is the boy or girl a severely abused or dangerously antisocial child?

On the one hand, I have had several cases of youths who initially appeared dangerously antisocial, but careful evaluation revealed otherwise. Some youths who have been severely abused may adopt a tough exterior that suggests to others that they may be antisocial when they are not. On the other hand, I have encountered youths where extensive abuse was evident and who were extremely dangerous. Even when abuse is present, the critical question remains: What propelled the youth to kill the parent? Making this judgment requires an in-depth evaluation by a mental health professional who is knowledgeable about family violence. In my practice, I focus on juveniles, adolescents, and young adults who kill parents. In my cases, I spend hours evaluating the parricide offender and routinely consult with surviving family members. I also speak with the offender's friends and teachers when possible. Family members are essential in corroborating abuse, the early history of the child, and family dynamics. Friends and teachers can provide important information about what the youth is like, how the youth handles stress, and what changes occurred in the youth's behavior over time. I review police reports, depositions of witnesses, school and medical records, and social services records if they exist with respect to dependency and delinquency histories.

I routinely consult with other mental health professionals who may have had earlier contact with the child. Can you talk about the importance of boundary setting and parental respect for children in regards to their parents? Setting boundaries is very important in raising children. Good parenting requires setting limits and disciplining children when they do not abide by them. From the time they are toddlers, children test limits and challenge parents. For example, a three year old wants an ice cream sandwich right before dinner. The mother says no, explaining that they will be eating dinner soon. The child screams, cries, and kicks his feet in protest. If the mother, exhausted from a long day, gives in, thinking it is not worth the hassle, the child has learned an important lesson. The child can wear his mother out and get what he wants by temper tantrums and bad behavior. Unless the mother changes that behavior, the child will continue to challenge her and his bad behavior will escalate. In parricide cases, I have seen good parents overindulge their children with fatal results. These parents often love their children very much and do not want to fight with them over "little things." These parents reason that these challenges - staying up late, getting another toy at the store - are not really important.

The problem is that over time the "little things" become bigger and bigger issues. At 15, 16, or 17 years of age, the son or daughter is now saying "I am going out, I am taking the car, I am dating who I want." The parent appropriately steps in and says "no." However, the adolescent has not learned to respect the parent and to accept the parent's authority. The youth has not learned that you do not always get your way. The youth has no frustration tolerance, meaning that he does not know how to deal with disappointment, and gets angry. Sometimes the anger is so intense that it erupts into deadly rage. Is matricide more prevalent in single parent families? That question is a hard one to answer because there are no national data that record family composition of matricide victims. I have had cases of male and female adolescents who have killed mothers that came from both two parent and one parent families. Case reports from other clinicians and researchers also are mixed with respect to family composition when it comes to adolescents who kill mothers. Clearly more research is needed to better understand this important area. With respect to adult matricide offenders, the picture is clearer than with younger offenders.

Adult sons and daughters who kill their mothers are much more likely to be living alone with them than with both parents. What conclusions can you draw from children who choose knives over firearms? Most juveniles and adolescents who kill parents use firearms as their weapons of destruction. In matricide cases, firearms are the weapon of first choice followed by knives and then other weapons, including blunt objects, personal weapons, strangulation, asphyxiation, or other means such as poison, drugs, explosives, pushing their victims out windows or drowning them. Interestingly, my analyses of over 1400 cases of parents killed by juveniles under 18 over the 32 year period 1976-2007 revealed that the percentages of daughters and sons who used knives to kill mothers was the same - 23 percent. Thus, about one in four juvenile matricide offenders stabbed their mothers to death. Adolescents who kill parents often act impulsively. Those who select knives are even more likely to act due to strong feelings rather than to conscientiously plan the killing. Knives are readily available in homes. Grabbing a knife and wielding it requires little planning. What does it mean when a victim is stabbed multiple times?

It is often indicative of the release of very strong negative emotion. Studies in rats have demonstrated that a positive feedback loop exists between the aggression center in the brain and the release of stress hormones by the adrenal cortex. This feedback loop amplifies aggressive behavior. In essence, stress and aggression form a rapid positive feedback loop. When stress increases, aggression increases. Conversely, aggressive behavior leads to the release of stress hormones. This mechanism may help to explain how stressors rapidly generate and exacerbate violent behavior. I have had several cases where matricide and other homicide offenders stabbed their victims multiple times. Once in this positive feedback loop, the offender continues to act out violently until his or her rage has dissipated. At this point, the offender is completely exhausted. Often offenders in this situation report later that they are stunned by what they did. It is almost as though they were on "automatic pilot" and suddenly woke up to see the violence that they had inflicted. The prosecution may suggest that, in the case of a victim who has been stabbed 30 times, the offender made 30 conscious decisions as he or she inflicted each wound. Advances in biological research suggest quite the opposite.

Once the offender began the assault, his or her ability to stop, think, and conscientiously make choices was severely compromised. It is normal for teens to test boundaries - when are the clues that adolescent behavior has gone from normal to something more dangerous? It is indeed normal for teens to test boundaries. They are yearning for independence and trying to establish their own identify and move towards adulthood. Parents should be concerned when youths are engaging in behavior that is reckless and unhealthy, such as drinking, taking drugs, participating in unprotected or indiscriminate sex, staying out late, skipping school, or being involved in a gang activity or delinquent acts. Parents also need to be aware of the violent imagery to which their children are exposed and to set limits with respect to excessively graphic and violent videogames, role play games, movies, and music. Parents need to make explicit what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is not. When is it time for parents to seek out professional help? It is normal for teens to be upset and to sulk when they do not get their own way. However, if the youth withdraws, becomes noncommunicative, or belligerent, it is time to get help.

Threats by a youth against a person should always be taken seriously by parents as a call for immediate intervention. Parents should reassure their children that they love them and that they care enough about them to get a third party involved to help the family work through the conflict. Youths will often accept going to a mental health professional if the whole family participates in the therapy. It is important for parents to communicate with their children, to listen, and to be the parents. In some of the parricide cases I have had, parents tried to be their children's friends. Children need their parents to be adults and not try to act as one of their peers. Kids may openly buck the structure. Inwardly, they need, and often crave, stability and reassurance that their parents have the strength to remain in charge. © 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Anytime, Anywhere 48 Hours iPad App Watch episodes from past seasons of 48 Hours. PLUS, stream all your favorite CBS shows live, next day, or on demand anytime, anywhere.

Matricide: Noura Jackson and Other Daughters Who Kill - CBS News CBS News By Crimesider Staff CBS News April 12, 2010, 7:31 AM Matricide: Noura Jackson and Other Daughters Who Kill Noura Jackson's Sept. 29, 2005, booking photo CBS Noura Jackson's Sept. 29, 2005, booking photo CBS NEW YORK (CBS) In the early hours of June 5, 2005, Jennifer Jackson, 39, was stabbed more than 50 times in her Memphis, Tenn., home. Her daughter Noura, 18 at the time, was convicted of murder four years later. She is part of a very small group of offenders - daughters that kill their mothers. Her crime will be covered by 48 Hours | Mystery on April 10 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Parricide, the proper name for a child killing one or both parents, makes up less than two percent of homicides in the United States. Of that number, the vast majority is committed by sons - approximately 85 percent.

Of the cases perpetrated by daughters, only a minute number are girls aged eighteen and younger. When children do kill their parents, the cases garner a great deal of media attention. When the Menendez brothers were first tried for the 1989 shotgun murder of their parents in California, cameras were allowed into the courtroom and Court TV gained notoriety and a loyal following of viewers for televising the daily proceedings for months. After a hung jury, the brothers were eventually convicted in a second trial and sentenced to life in prison. Though Lizzie Borden was never convicted of killing her father and stepmother with a hatchet in 1892, her name is still synonymous with the crime more than a century later. And while fictional, Norman Bates, the cross-dressing son from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, embodies the stereotype of a son driven to kill because of his severely abusive and domineering mother. What makes a child kill? And specifically, what makes a daughter kill her mother? For daughters over 18, mental illness is most often to blame, according to University of South Florida Professor Kathleen Heide. But under the age of eighteen, mental illness is the least likely root of the crime.

The most common type of female juvenile matricide offender has been severely abused by their mother, and that accounts for over half of all cases. The next most likely cause is an offender that is classified as dangerously antisocial. Perhaps matricide is most troubling because of the bond that exists between mothers and daughters, which Professor Heide acknowledges as very strong. "I believe it's stronger among daughters than sons. Little girls want to be like their moms and look toward [them] as their role models." Professor Heide also notes that love doesn't seem to be lacking in most of the cases of matricide she's studied over the years. "At the end of the day, these girls really do love their mothers - that's the irony." Currently, Noura Jackson is serving out her 20 year sentence at a correctional center in Memphis, Tenn. If she serves the full term, when she is released she will be a year younger than her mother was when she was murdered. Matricide - TV Tropes Matricide You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share "Matricide is probably the most unbearable crime of all... most unbearable to the son who commits it." — Dr.

Fred Richmond, Psycho Matricide, the killing of one's mother, is considered among the most heinous crimes throughout history. Killing either one of one's parents ( or both ) is obviously a traumatic experience that in usual circumstances only comes about as a result of great turmoil between parent and child. Whereas Patricide carries the connotations of killing one's clan leader (or an Oedipus Complex when it's an addendum to earning the love of the mother figure), disposing of dear old mom is possibly even more extreme. This is after all the woman who carried the character for nine months and then took care of them for years afterwards, so it takes an exceptionally heartless character to cross that line. This can be variously played depending on how sympathetic the mother as well as the child who is committing the act are. Even when the mother was an Abusive Parent or Evil Matriarch , or tried to kill her offspring first , it can cause intense grief that will stay with the character for years or end in their self-destruction. For an Antagonistic Offspring it can be the ultimate way to defy Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas , being played for horror rather than drama.

This is a Death Trope , so beware of spoilers. Examples open/close all folders Anime and Manga Bastard : Kall Su had killed his mother in self defense before being taken in by Dark Schneider in a story that is incredibly similar to that of Haku from Naruto . Kara no Kyoukai : The fifth movie starts with Tomoe killing his mother in self defense, after she murdered his father. Treated oddly sympathetically, despite the rather... strange circumstances that turn out to be surrounding it. X/1999 : Seishirou Sakurazuka killed his mother Setsuka not because of hate, but simply because that was the main requirement to become the Sakurazukamori . In fact, Setsuka knew it'd be like that ever since she had him, and she even got to Go Out with a Smile in her son's arms while telling him that he would die in the same way. Soul Eater : Played with. Crona kills their mother Medusa because she had been nice to her, something Crona was so unused to that it made him think Medusa was actually an imposter . And this was all part of Medusa's plan to make Crona into a new Kishin.

Black Jack Neo: Black Jack gets kidnapped by a deformed young man named Sarutahikone who wants him to change his face. Simultaneously, the audience is shown a news broadcast of a murdered mother and son; the suspected killer is the twin brother- Sarutahikone. The audience is led to believe that he is attempting to escape, using Black Jack to help him disguise himself. In fact, Sarutahikone had come upon the scene of his brother killing their mother and killed him in self-defense. It's explained that their mother had been sexually abusing the twin before Black Jack removed her brain tumour years ago, and the twin had killed her when she refused to rekindle the relationship. Deadman Wonderland : The tiny little Undertaker Hibana Daida was imprisoned for murdering her mother, who had subjected her to horrific abuse. Detective School Q : Played with for horrible drama. Kunihiko and Akihiko Ichinose did not know that the Phony Psychic they murdered to protect their sister Kaoru was their mother Hanako (who was believed to be dead) under a disguise.

When they're told the truth, both cross the Despair Event Horizon and have to be stopped from going the Murder-Suicide way. Aiko killed her abusive mother who tried to kill her in Oyasumi Punpun . Originally it seemed like Punpun killed her but Aiko reveals to him later that her mom survived him stabbing her. When he wasn't looking Aiko delivered the final blow. Comic Books Locke & Key : Ellie Whedon comes really, really close to pushing her horrible mother off a cliff after she puts a cigarette out on her son's neck, but can't go through with it. However, the evil spirit she unwittingly unleashes a few pages later has no such hesitation. X-23 : As the final act of his descent into evil, Dr. Zander Rice laced X-23 mother, Dr. Sarah Kinney, with the trigger scent. Laura was sent into an Unstoppable Rage and killed her as a result, just as Sarah was putting her plan to escape the Facility with her altogether in motion . However, Laura did eventually reconnect with her genetic father Wolverine .

Played with in a Batman / Alien crossover where the head of a weapons company turns some of Batman's villains (including the Joker and Poison Ivy) into human/alien hybrids. She has the DNA injected into herself as well so they won't attack her, seeing her as the Queen. For whatever reason, it didn't take when Killer Croc was hybridized, and he messily devours her. Warlord of Mars : Kajak Thoris poisoned his own mother Heru on belief he was given as hostage to a rival city-state when as a child, when in reality, he was kidnapped by their enemies and raised to think his family abandoned him. Fan Works In Yu-Gi-Oh! The Thousand Year Door , all six of the original Shadow Spawn tried to assassinate their mother several times and seize the throne of Arcadia , while the current generation considered it a few times. It was hardly a secret to her either. (This tells a lot about the type of mother she was , as the protagonists eventually figure out.) Film Alien: Resurrection : Played with. The Newborn, immediately after being born, inspects the Queen Alien and kills her. However, he then thinks of Ripley as his real mother, and acts affectionately towards her.

Feed: Michael Carter, the archvillain of this Aussie horror flick, smothered his obese mother when he was a child. He's locked into a cycle of repeating the same murder as an adult. Psycho : Norman Bates is one of the most iconic modern examples. His mother Norma sheltered him extensively after the death of her husband, making Norman form a codependent attachment to his mother. When she found a new paramour, Norman murdered his mother, causing him to develop a second personality modelled after her to conceal this crime from himself. Dragonheart : After the tyrannical King Einon's mother tries to kill the dragon who provides Einon with immortality as long as their hearts are shared, he murders her without remorse to cement how evil he is. Carrie : The title character kills her mother Margaret in self-defense as her mother was trying to kill her . Taking Lives : Soon after the Serial Killer 's mother reveals his identity to the police, she's found in an elevator with her head sawed off by her blood-drenched son.

Scream : Scream 3 : The Ghostface who turns out to have been The Man Behind the Man for the one from the first movie reveals that he arranged for his biological mother to be murdered by his accomplice because he was revolted that he had been born of rape and deemed her a whore. Scream 4 : The new Ghostface willingly kills her own mother to replicate the missing-mother motif that Sidney Prescott had to live with. Spider : Clegg is horrified to discover that he murdered his mother during one of his hallucinations as a kid. It's the reason he's been institutionalized ever since. Blade : Blade discovers that Deacon Frost had turned his mother into a vampire when he inadvertently made the unborn Blade a dhampyr. Blade is eventually forced to destroy her for good when he sees how horrible she has become. Literature A Brother's Price has villains who are evil enough to do this. The reason being they needed to sacrifice someone of their family to make themselves look like fellow victims, and their mothers had become senile and were talking about family secrets too carelessly. Coraline : Possibly subverted. The Other Mother has put her Mother to the grave, "And when I caught her trying to crawl out".

So the Mother of Other Mother perhaps isn't exactly dead, by for all intents and purposes, she is. The Dark Tower : Roland Deschain accidentally shot his mother dead. Carrie . Abusive Margaret is killed off by her daughter Carrie while she was stabbing the latter in a manic fit. Carrie's father died in a work-related accident before his daughter's birth. Live Action TV In Renegadepress.com's "Sullengirl16", rumours and speculation fly about a new posting on renegadepress.com in which a girl claims to have killed her mother. Sons of Anarchy . Jax Teller ultimately kills his mother Gemma in the last season after he discovers that she's betrayed the club and murdered Jax's wife Tara. Nero notes that the severity of the act will destroy Jax, and he admits that despite everything she's done he still loves his mom. It's enough for Jax to wilfully arrange his own death in the series finale. Once Upon a Time Red accidentally kills her mother Anita in an attempt to protect Snow White. It's quite traumatizing, as they had just recently reunited .

Snow White later tricks Regina into killing her mother Cora, pretty much the last person left that Regina loves. To make it worse, Cora had just recently had her heart returned, meaning she remembered just how much she loved Regina right before her death . Buffy the Vampire Slayer : Spike resurrected his mother as a vampire after her untimely death, but losing her soul made her become a vile monster. After she tells Spike how much she hates him and tries to seduce him , the horrified Spike stakes her to kill her for good. The Sopranos : Subverted in the season 1 finale. Livia Soprano manipulates Uncle Junior to arrange a hit on her son Tony (Junior's nephew) out of resentment for putting her in a nursing home. After Tony's faction wins the civil war against Junior, Tony tries to smother Livia with a pillow, but ultimately decides against it. Millennium : The Monster of the Week in the season 1 finale "Paper Dove" kills his mother after he becomes fed up with her overbearing behavior. He was already a Serial Killer before that, unbeknownst to her.

Dexter : The major antagonist of the final season ends up killing his own mother after she realizes that he's an irredeemably cold-blooded killer. He had already killed his brother when he was younger. Mother chose the wrong son...again. Orphan Black : Helena stabs her birth mother Amelia for separating her from her twin sister Sarah. Helena grew up in a Ukrainian convent run by abusive nuns while Sarah ended up a foster kid in England. However, Sarah wanted to get to know Amelia and disowns Helena for killing her. Theatre The Adding Machine : Zero, in the afterlife, meets another murderer who believes his own matricide to be a more heinous crime than Zero murdering his boss. Even though he killed her accidentally while trying to slice a leg of lamb, he accepted the minister's word that this was absolute proof of his sinful nature and he would surely be doomed to suffer in Fire and Brimstone Hell for eternity (which turns out not to be the case). Video Games Bioshock 2 : Depending on the player's actions, Eleanor will either save or drown her mother.

In The Binding of Isaac the Final Boss Isaac faces on the first playthrough is Mom, with the theme that plays during the fight in Rebirth is even titled " Matricide ". In this case it's slightly more justified because your Mom has seemingly heard the voice of God telling her to kill you and decided to prove her faith by doing so . Dirge of Cerberus : Nero the Sable, one of the Tsviets, inadvertently sent his own birthmother into another dimension while she was giving birth to him due to his powers, which also acted as the reason why Shinra bound his arms as well as presumably limited his overall power. Mass Effect : If you take Liara on the Noveria mission, she takes part in the death of her own mother, Benezia. Mass Effect 2 : If you can resist Morinth's mind control, you and she can kill her mother. System Shock : The Many, that annelid Body Horror , certainly want to do this to the "Machine Mother" who created them. Instead, the avatar of SHODAN kills them. Fire Emblem Awakening features a subversion.

Regardless of how the game is played, Lucina decides to try and kill the Avatar to try and avert the Bad Future that she came from. If a female Avatar is her mother, Lucina even says "I know this is matricide...". However, regardless of if the player elects to accept her judgement or not, Lucina loves her too much to go through with it. Visual Novels In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations , the possibility that Maya Fey killed her own mother Misty without knowing her identity comes up. It takes the entire trial (which lasts over 7 hours in-universe ) to prove that no, it wasn't matricide . In a tragic turn of events, the killer was a man who wanted to protect Maya all along, Godot . It's important to note that he only killed the woman because she was channeling a spirit who was trying to murder Maya at the time. Toward the end of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney ï¿½ Dual Destinies , Athena Cykes (much like Miles Edgeworth) believes that she killed her mother Metis when she was very young, even though Simon Blackquill was convicted and sentenced to death for it .

Again like Edgeworth, this is not the case but she suffers of Trauma-Induced Amnesia which messes up the deal even more- but unlike Edgeworth's case, it's believed that Metis used Athena as a guinea pig in her experiments, and that's why she snapped on her mom . If the game's played right, what truly happened is revealed: Metis never mistreated Athena but was actually trying to help her; little Athena stepped on her mother's murder scene, tried and failed to attack the killer, then fell in an Ophelia-like Heroic B.S.O.D. and that is when Blackquill found her and decided to frame himself to protect her ... Webcomics Drowtales : The three Sharen sisters send mommy dearest to her room permanently so they can rule Chel'el'Sussoloth in a demonic triumvirate. Their dialog as they do it is especially cold. Made worse by the fact that to elves and drow, killing one's own mother is viewed as the worst crime one can commit, with someone who does it or willing to do it being viewed as the worst kind of person.

Drow insults reflect this, with "Motherkiller" and "Motherkilling" being the most used insult and curse by their race. Gunnerkrigg Court : An interesting example, where Annie kills her mother without realizing it by simply being alive, due to them both being fire elementals. However, in chapter 36, her father is confirmed alive. In Headless Bliss , the demon queen Diov apparently killed her own mother for going against the natural order of demon existence by providing a loving, nurturing relationship to those under her rule. In Nodwick , Orville is a dragon whose species is driven by instinct to kill their mothers, and this works to the heroes' advantage at one point. Elonan uses a spell that causes the heroes to perceive her zombies as their parents or former mentors, intending to fool them into being vulnerable to their attacks, and this almost works. However, because Orville regards his mother as an enemy, he becomes enraged and incinerates them. Western Animation The Legend of Calamity Jane : It is very subtly implied in the episode "Easy as One, Two, Three..." that Conrad killed the mother of him and his two brothers.

He spends the episode repeating her advice and what her opinion would be of their actions, but when one of his brothers asks why he cannot just leave her in her grave, he responds that he did leave her in her grave. South Park : Subverted in "Tsst", when Cartman decides that his mother Liane has to die after she stops indulging him and finally succeeds in disciplining her bratty son. This attempt on his mother's life causes Cartman to go through a Split Personality struggle as he destroys his evil side (parodying a scene from Altered States ). Real Life On December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, Adam Lanza had shot and killed his mother Nancy before embarking on a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in which he murdered 20 children and 6 adults before killing himself. Similarly, Charles Whitman killed his wife and his mother before killing another 14 from a bell tower at the University of Texas in Austin. The Roman Emperor Nero had his mother Agrippina killed. She in turn had probably poisoned her husband Claudius after convincing him to adopt Nero, hoping she could rule Rome through him.

When his assassins met her, she bared her chest and told them to stab her where Nero came from. Another piece of evidence linking him to Anti-Christ. :: Indexes ::

Question: If someone commits matricide, who did they kill?
Answer: Their Mother