Filicide-Suicide

Abstract

Homicide-suicides or "dyadic deaths" refer to a homicide followed by the suicide of the perpetrator within 1 week of the homicide. A unique subset is filicide-suicide: a parent kills his/her child before committing suicide. Shooting is the preferred method for both the homicide and suicide. The perpetrator has depression in most cases.We present 3 cases of filicide-suicide. In case 1, a divorced mother with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder shot her son and herself. In case 2, a father shot his son and himself while involved in a child-custody dispute. In case 3, a father, experiencing a divorce and financial difficulties, and his daughter with Angelman syndrome succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.The forensic pathologist should be aware of the psychosocial dynamics that interplay in filicide-suicide. Diligent attention to a parent's life stressors may aid in determining risk factors for filicide-suicide.

A systematic review of literature on homicide followed by suicide and mental state of perpetrators

“…Ensuring effectiveness of restriction/restraining orders (Campanelli & Gilson, 2002). Increased awareness in family court professionals (Shields et al., 2015). Routine domestic abuse inquiry in acute health settings (Flynn et al., 2009).…”

Tentativa de filicídio-suicídio: relato de caso

“…Vários fatores de risco presentes na história da paciente são apontados na literatura como contribuintes para o crime de filicídio, dentre os quais destacam-se: mãe jovem; diagnóstico prévio de transtornos mentais; suicidalidade; estressores de vida, como dificuldades financeiras e conflitos conjugais; isolamento e falta de suporte social; história pregressa de violência familiar, abuso físico, psicológico e negligência emocional; pais portadores de transtornos mentais e vitimização por violência doméstica [6][7][8][9].…”

“…Além disso, alguns autores observaram um comportamento em U da curva do filicídio, com um primeiro pico de mortes antes dos 5 anos de idade e outro entre 15-19 anos [10]. A existência de deficiência física ou intelectual, baixo peso, prematuridade e choro persistente também aumentam o risco de homicídio cometido pelos genitores, porém essas características não foram observadas no caso [6,7].…”

Love Is Not an Emotion

“…Here such consequences are briefly illustrated in terms of suicide and femicide, or the murder of women at the hand of their partner or ex-partner. To varying degrees, both phenomena can be directly associated with the current mistaken paradigm of love: di-vorces are clearly related to suicides and femicides (Fernández-Teruelo, 2013), and also to the filicide, or the murder of one's own children (Shields et al, 2015;Schyma et al, 2013;Marleau et al, 1999-severe marital discord-, Taguchi, 2007.…”