Abstract:A certain number of single-vehicle crashes into stationary roadside objects such as trees are thought to be occult suicides. However, is it possible that some cases of multiple deaths within a family in similar crashes are due to unrecognized familial murder-suicides? A 39-year-old woman and her 11-year-old daughter are reported who died of injuries following a vehicle impact with a tree. Unusual behavior of the mother leading up to the crash, and assessment at the scene, raised the possibility of this being a… Show more
“…They found that double suicides often involved the use of less violent methods than in murder-suicides, and chronic disease was often identified as the motive [19]. Byard et al [20,21] also discussed the problems involved in retrospectively determining the motive behind a vehicle crash involving the deaths of all the family members. This type of incident might be a subcategory labeled "familial vehicular murder-suicide" [20,21].…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Byard et al [20,21] also discussed the problems involved in retrospectively determining the motive behind a vehicle crash involving the deaths of all the family members. This type of incident might be a subcategory labeled "familial vehicular murder-suicide" [20,21]. Another possible category is "murder-accidents", which might be implicated in, for example, deaths related to burnt out houses [22].…”
Murder-suicides are defined as the murder of at least one person and the suicide of the offender following the murder. The intention to commit suicide must be primary. In most cases, a male offender kills a female victim after a separation. The current analysis was the first analysis of the typology of murder-suicides in Berlin. We analyzed the autopsy files of the Institute for Forensic Medicine of the Charité University Medicine Berlin and of the City Institute for Forensic Medicine Berlin. We performed descriptive and statistical analyses of cases between 2005 and 2013. We identified 17 murder-suicides. All 17 offenders were male, and 20 of the victims (90%) were female. The offenders used firearms in the majority of the cases. In seven cases, the victims and offenders were at least 80 years old. The average age of the offenders was 63 years. Disease was the motive in 6 cases involving older offenders. Our study might support the development of prevention strategies. In this regard, it is important to build a database for murder-suicides in Germany and other countries, to formulate a uniform definition of murder-suicide, to carry out nationwide interdisciplinary studies on this topic and to improve the existing health care structures, especially for older adults and people with depression.
“…They found that double suicides often involved the use of less violent methods than in murder-suicides, and chronic disease was often identified as the motive [19]. Byard et al [20,21] also discussed the problems involved in retrospectively determining the motive behind a vehicle crash involving the deaths of all the family members. This type of incident might be a subcategory labeled "familial vehicular murder-suicide" [20,21].…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Byard et al [20,21] also discussed the problems involved in retrospectively determining the motive behind a vehicle crash involving the deaths of all the family members. This type of incident might be a subcategory labeled "familial vehicular murder-suicide" [20,21]. Another possible category is "murder-accidents", which might be implicated in, for example, deaths related to burnt out houses [22].…”
Murder-suicides are defined as the murder of at least one person and the suicide of the offender following the murder. The intention to commit suicide must be primary. In most cases, a male offender kills a female victim after a separation. The current analysis was the first analysis of the typology of murder-suicides in Berlin. We analyzed the autopsy files of the Institute for Forensic Medicine of the Charité University Medicine Berlin and of the City Institute for Forensic Medicine Berlin. We performed descriptive and statistical analyses of cases between 2005 and 2013. We identified 17 murder-suicides. All 17 offenders were male, and 20 of the victims (90%) were female. The offenders used firearms in the majority of the cases. In seven cases, the victims and offenders were at least 80 years old. The average age of the offenders was 63 years. Disease was the motive in 6 cases involving older offenders. Our study might support the development of prevention strategies. In this regard, it is important to build a database for murder-suicides in Germany and other countries, to formulate a uniform definition of murder-suicide, to carry out nationwide interdisciplinary studies on this topic and to improve the existing health care structures, especially for older adults and people with depression.
“…According to a surviving daughter, she then drove at unusually high speed, missed a turnoff, and collided with a tree. Further history revealed evidence of recent depressive symptoms with paranoid ideation (Byard, O'Donovan, van den Huevel, & Baldock, , p. 1307).The mother was killed at the scene, her 14‐year‐old daughter died as a result of the crash, and two younger children were seriously but not fatally injured (Byard et al, ). Although this is designated as “familial” in the report, as this was an intrafamilial H‐S, it would be a filial H‐S using the FHC, as the only victims were the woman's own children, the commonest type of H‐S amongst females.…”
Section: Females In the Bipartite Classification Of Homicide‐suicidementioning
confidence: 99%
“…According to a surviving daughter, she then drove at unusually high speed, missed a turnoff, and collided with a tree. Further history revealed evidence of recent depressive symptoms with paranoid ideation (Byard, O'Donovan, van den Huevel, & Baldock, , p. 1307).…”
Section: Females In the Bipartite Classification Of Homicide‐suicidementioning
confidence: 99%
“…The mother was killed at the scene, her 14-year-old daughter died as a result of the crash, and two younger children were seriously but not fatally injured (Byard et al, 2018). Although this is designated as "familial" in the report, as this was an intrafamilial H-S, it would be a filial H-S using the FHC, as the only victims were the woman's own children, the commonest type of H-S amongst females.…”
Combined homicide‐suicide (H‐S) is a phenomenon described as an offender committing a homicidal act followed by their suicide. Current literature on H‐S is dominated by a focus on men and their particular set of motivations and actions, primarily because females constitute only a small fraction of the cases of completed H‐S. This review begins by analyzing this data and integrating females within two subclassifications of H‐S: the psychopathology of the actor (or perpetrator), and the actor's relationship to her homicide victims. Within the relational subcategory of H‐S, females are: (1) underrepresented when victims are their spouses or intimate partners (consortial H‐S); (2) more prevalent when victims are their own children (filial H‐S); and (3) with rare exceptions, not represented in extrafamilial, adversarial and pseudo‐commando H‐S perpetrators. This review includes female bombers in this gender comparison.
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