John Hogan was accused of murder and attempted murder and spent three years in psychiatric hospitals and Greek jails after pleading temporary insanity. After the tragedy, it was revealed the couple were having marital troubles and had argued, signaling an end to the marriage, just before John Hogan took the actions he did. They usually occur when a man, a provider, head of his household, respected in his field, community, whatever... he suddenly loses all his face and power for whatever reason (financial ruin, or the threat of some kind of shameful secret being exposed such as an affair, or being exposed for a fraud in your profession). While Mr. Anderson was known to have substance misuse issues there were no signs he was a risk to himself or the children and both families have been left shocked and devastated at his actions. 7. He may commit suicide after killing the others, or may force the police to kill him.” – Forensic Psychiatrist P.E. September 9, 2010 1:23 PM | Score: 1, September 9, 2010 1:23 PM | Posted by Anonymous: | Reply. 7. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. September 9, 2010 8:03 AM | Score: -2, September 9, 2010 8:03 AM | Posted, in reply to Reader's comment, by Jack Coupal: | Reply. While anyone can see how severe the problem is, no one else sees the problem as insurmountable-- except him. An inquest heard how he left a note by his body saying "I hope I rot in hell". ], Movable Type Development and Hosting by Familicide is defined as one family member who murders other members of their family, commonly taking the lives of all. Christopher Watts (Getty … Another key factor in these types of killings appears to be a rage from the male when he feels he has been wronged by his partner, whether this is due to the partnership breaking down, an affair in the marriage and/or difficulties surrounding access to the children. Wired UK, Fegadel, A. R., & Heide, K. M. (2017). Often no outward signs were visible to suggest anyone was in danger or that there was a risk of an individual taking such horrific actions. There comes an age where son strength > dad strength, esp. Examples of this are Charles Manson and his cult, which he persuaded to kill for him. | My favourites, Posted by DCF | Posted by Anonymous | Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 18(5), 306–318. I hope that helps. After unsuccessfully trying to take his own life he was put on trial where it was revealed he had just discovered his wife was having an affair. I'll have the last word. The first type, disciple killers, follow a leader. Jesus Christ dude, I can honestly say that is NOT what my brain was telling me it wanted to see after reading the title of that link. September 8, 2010 2:03 PM | Score: 10, September 8, 2010 2:03 PM | Posted by Anonymous: | Reply, I did think that I would see a cheerleader...I'm pretty honest with my base nature though :D, Posted by Ben | No one thinks we troll the news to look at pictures of victims for our jollies, but it is a simple fact that a murder victim who is a "kansas cheerleader" will get more interest/link clicks than a victim who is described as an "overweight math fanatic". The behavior is not excusable due to a loss of job, shit in this freaking economy, how many people have lost jobs? The Despondent offender possibly believes the family will not cope without him if he just kills himself. Posted by motoswestry | September 9, 2010 3:52 AM | Score: 2, September 9, 2010 3:52 AM | Posted by Anonymous: | Reply. Furthermore, Wilson et al (1995) concluded that familicides actually have more in common with uxoricides as the children killed in familicides are not the primary victims (the spouse is, the same as in uxoricides). if son does sports / martial arts. My money would be on that he had a belief his wife would leave him once their 18-year-old daughter was out of the nest. The economy always is a distal factor that is translated into family relations through poverty or employment or self-image or stressors. Get out of the house, or at least the bedroom. And the way you find yourself making these commitments is that he's as masterful as any media outlet/salesman at the plausibility hook (what TLP writes about in section I, but on a personal level). I recommend inserting another link to: https://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2010/02/the_other_ego_epidemic.html. If you only care about yourself and your "Face", this can sound like a good deal. What are some of the defining characteristics of family annihilators? First, thanks for your posts & your site - I admire & appreciate the breadth and depth of your thoughts & criticism, on narcissism, science, popular culture, all of it. he had examined two computers as part of the investigation, one from the These are individuals, usually fathers, who place blame on others for their actions. The goal isn't to solve his problems, but delay him until he can think straight.". Such gender expectations have been around within criminology and crime theory for a long time with many of the theories developed being predominantly focused on male criminal behavior. 'Family annihilators', where the male parent murders the family, are most prevalent in August.That doesn't mean much, it is too rare a crime to have a lot of data and when there are 12 months in the year, one month is going to be first, but the first ever study of British ‘family annihilators’ uses that and similar facts over three decades of cases What drove 'family annihilator' Chris Watts to murder his pregnant wife and daughters? You expect this shit in new jersey you don't expect it in kansas. September 17, 2010 11:40 AM | Score: 3, September 17, 2010 11:40 AM | Posted, in reply to Anonymous's comment, by DCF: | Reply. He said accounts showed stock purchased by McFall appeared to have been delivered and sent to Stans Superstore properly. Posted by Trei | -Sadly, the apparent effect of the psych meds is a coincidental artifact of the truly effective components of a suicide intervention. Faculty Publications, Department of Psychology. Societal: The characteristics - such as customs, values and laws - of a society. It's like historic vs historical. Posted by BHE | Fathers who fall into this category can kill their children and leave the mother alive to ensure maximum pain and suffering. "I'm 20, balding, and this all applies to me. Why else would they call the victim a cheerleader? In the influential Yardley, Wilson and Lynes research, they looked at cases over a span of 30 years and grouped their case studies into four categories looking at the motives behind the killings. In a collaborative project between Crime Traveller and Morbid Minds Productions, this feature article has been turned into a full-length documentary. I think people who have children, jobs, and houses feel too stressed out. In many cases, it is reports from family and friends that reveal such prior violence within the home with up to 75% of cases having no police involvement, and therefore no arrest records, for such incidents. For example, see Based on personal experience, I'd suggest that they already did know, and they'd known, and had dealt with, acts of narcissistic rage for the life of their family, but they didn't have the name for it/a way to know how ultimately dangerous it would be. Illegal activity, affairs, drugs...  the money is important because it hides those things, allows him to present himself as something he wants to be. I enjoyed reading this post. More info and tickets at, This website uses cookies. A very fine line: it was both spontaneous, and premeditated. He had died of smoke inhalation suggesting he had finished his task and climbed into the bed next to his wife and waited to be consumed by the smoke of the fire. Nice post. In doing so, they identified four types of family annihilator: Self-righteous: These men hold the mother responsible, blaming them for a “breakdown of the family.” They also tend to highly prize their own role as family breadwinner. The family role of the father is central to their ideas of masculinity and the murders represent a last ditch attempt to perform a masculine role. ", 1b. Really? They found a total of 71 cases where 59 of the perpetrators were male and over half were between the ages of 30-40 years old when they committed the crime. 40% had a history of aggressive behaviors towards their families and 47% of offenders had long-standing substance abuse problems. September 8, 2010 2:28 PM | Score: -1, September 8, 2010 2:28 PM | Posted by Anonymous: | Reply. A difference between men and women who carry out this crime in terms of their motivations has also been noted. Men who kill their families can be separated into four distinct types. They are their own tormentors. A 46-year-old accountant, John List struggled to maintain his employment and pay his mortgage and had been stealing money from his elderly mother. Liem and Koenraadt (2008) reported more familicide offenders had a personality disorder with narcissistic or dependent features compared to uxoricide offenders and they had less often previously committed a violent offense. In the news coverage, there's a even an article that says his business would have still have been fine financially. It's a purge. When you've reached a point that you are so detached from the emotions of others that you can kill for your own narcissistic goals, you are not a narcisstic although narcissism can be a part of sociopathy. Past violent behavior and unsteady social relationships were also prevalent. I think the reporting makes these events. the day before his death. She had been held down and suffocated by her father while her mother looked on. Within organized mass murders, there are disciple, family annihilator, pseudocommando, disgruntled employee, and set and run killers. The majority of the sample clustered into three types: the family annihilator, the classroom avenger, and … New article updates and our free monthly Newsletter straight into your inbox. She then shot herself but survived. In what was originally thought to be a devastating house fire, it was soon revealed to be a much deeper horror. There are many characteristics that make up a mass murder and the person who commits them. Having watched my "relationship" implode upon the birth of our child, my husband's business implode upon the loss of my support of it, followed by the start-of-the-end of our marriage just weeks later, because of his seemingly out-of-control behavior, I think a divorce would have cost McFall the most of all. This was repeated every time there was a new incident. They are not carried out in the heat of the moment or in a fit of rage. Who Can Know How Much Randi Zuckerberg Is Worth? I don't doubt these people are highly narcissistic, but the primary motivation for these types of murders is power and control. He kills himself because he can't face that they know.". even if he doesn't go Imagine what it must feel like to actually carry it out. They’re unable to make appropriate decisions when burdened by anxiety, rage or depression. Homicide Studies, 11, 295- 318, Hodson, P. (2008) Family Annihilators: Why Fathers Murder Their Own Children. but people will assume he did it for financial problems, he can count on some form of sympathy from the public. They are very methodical and it is often planned out for a long time.” –, “The male view of the family is very black and white, and doesn’t reflect the increasingly dynamic role that women can play in the economy and in the institution of the family itself.” –. Let's get a lawyer." You're thinking from your own perspective, not the daughter's. Most offenders were employed and aged between 30 and 39 years old at the time of the murders. Parents Who Kill Their Children Shocking true stories of the world’s most evil parents in Parents Who Kill by Carol Anne Davis, tragic cases of parents who have killed their own children. Researchers have focused on any link between borderline personality disorder and familicide and while some evidence was found that could conclude a causal link, in such a rare crime it is difficult to draw any solid conclusions as to the role of such mental disorders within this crime. Familicide offenders were generally found to be older than filicide offenders, more often male and higher educated however, again history of substance abuse, mental health problems, violent offending and relationship problems remained the same across the two types of murders (Liem and Koenraadt, 2008; Logan et al, 2013; Wilson et al 1995). In a more recent study, Karlsson et al (2019) carried out a comprehensive literature review within the peer-reviewed research published on familicide. Characteristics of family killers revealed: The male dominated crime most common in August. An individual can have social problems, but a society can't. This is his inability to see things from another perspective except his own. Summary of Key Findings Comparing Sample to the Family Annihilator Profile and Selected Characteristics of the Mass Murder and Maternal Filicide Profiles. The most recent family annihilator case in the U.S. was incredibly heartbreaking and had every American checking their TVs and smart phones regularly for updates. wife before kids), etc. Morbid Minds did a fantastic job with the documentary, really impressive work. And, heck, I think even most people who are aware are willing to play the odds that it won't come to this. No, my claim is totally linguistic [dude]. Chillingly after he killed his daughter he sent a text message to her mother, Joanne Hall with the words, “Now you have the rest of your life to deal with the consequences”. They examined 63 research papers covering 67 studies from 18 countries that were published between 1980 and 2017 including familicide cases where the offender killed their current or former partner and at least one child. The family role of the father is central to their ideas of masculinity and the murders represent a last ditch attempt to perform a masculine role. View fullsize. Now he has to get rid of the reason why he ever cared about his facade in the first place. (Understood that you could beat him to a pulp without killing him) But if you knew he just killed your mother...maybe she just gave up. Characteristics & Types Of Mass Murders Mass murders are defined as 3 or more people killed in the same place at the same time. Would you kill your own father? Disappointed: In these cases, the killer believes his family has “let him down,” or acted in a way that undermined the family. Despite this, the findings when a spotlight is placed on such adolescent offenders are interesting in light of what is known about the more familiar adult male familicide offender. Taking the lives of his wife and children is a very pathetic and borderline psychotic way for this shattered individual to regain some semblance of control over his life and his fate. The varied definitions of the term ‘familicide’ can make a comparison of studies and cases challenging. Posted by Anonymous | Only 2 offenders had history of mental illness. September 8, 2010 2:11 PM | Score: 8, September 8, 2010 2:11 PM | Posted by Ben: | Reply. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/27/michigan.missing.children/, Posted by asij | In June 2008 in Cheshire, England,  he picked up his children on Father’s day for a day out, and after driving them to a secluded spot in Snowdonia, South Wales, he drugged them and pumped exhaust fumes into the car, killing 7-year-old Amy Philcox and 3-year-old Owen Philcox and himself. It just doesn't make sense to me that a man motivated by image, a fantasy story he is living, would snap and murder so as to regain esteem. “The family annihilator should be seen as a specific category of murderer, for a crime which appears to be increasing,” concluded Wilson. I don't disagree with the previous commenters that these guys are about control, its just that, an "intimate" relationship with them is all about their lack of control - of their focus/attention, time, money, temper, libido, drinking, appetite, lawfulness, whatever. Christopher Foster was in financial trouble and was on the verge of losing his home, a fact he had kept hidden from those around him. I think there's a reason, but I'll avoid arm chair psychiatry and leave it at that. Adolescents who kill family members usually means teens who kill their parents, a phenomenon termed ‘parricide’. It’s time to go to CrimeCon. Mental health is often questioned in these cases with an assumption of a disordered mental state from the father who has made a decision to kill all members of his immediate family. Familicide, the family annihilator, murder-suicides and family murders are all terms which have been used to describe cases where a family member has killed other family members. September 8, 2010 5:21 PM | Score: -3, September 8, 2010 5:21 PM | Posted by Francisco: | Reply. Of all the dark forms that murder can take, the slaying of a family … Correction, he's then free to make a new facade, or die peacefully unburdened. I think KAREN has it right. He had beat his wife to death and led his children between the ages of 3 and 10 years old to the garage, where he tried unsuccessfully to kill them and himself with carbon monoxide poisoning. accusations of invoice discrepancies from his main customer - which had What are the key characteristics of a Family Annihilator? Criminologists have been conducting increasing research into the phenomenon of familicide and in the process have produced many terms and definitions to describe such acts and distinguish them from each other. Journal of Family Violence, Vol 22, Issue 5, pp287-295, Liem, M., & Koenraadt, F. (2008). 3. Recent economic problems may produce increases in child abuse and neglect and domestic violence. Another interesting area of this literature review was a comparison against other types of family murder, specifically looking at familicides in comparison to uxoricides (the killing of one’s wife) and filicides (the killing of one’s child by parents). Late 1990s something happens for him seems as obvious as anything that we have all faced family annihilator characteristics! Question still being asked write-ups are family annihilator characteristics a motivation for these types of mass murder be on that had... Cases of familicide, Hodson, P. ( 2008 ), to the! The first place a belief his wife and children '' Jill Foster were found with gunshot wounds, confirming had! Heide, K. M. ( 2017 ) Crown Prosecution Service chose not to retry John was. Have free will with science them to justice reported and therefore on police.. R. ( 2009 ) if he just...? `` and other researchers come. 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