Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent killing their own child. The word filicide is derived from the Latin words filius and filia ('son' and 'daughter') and the suffix -cide, from the word caedere meaning 'to kill'. The word can refer to both the crime and perpetrator of the crime.
A 1999 U.S. Department of Justice study concluded that mothers were responsible for a higher share of children killed during infancy between 1976 and 1997 in the United States, while fathers were more likely to have been responsible for the murders of children aged eight or older. [1] Parents were responsible for 61% of child murders under the age of five. [2] Sometimes, there is a combination of murder and suicide in filicide cases. On average, according to FBI statistics, 450 children are murdered by their parents each year in the United States. [3]
An in-depth longitudinal study of 297 cases convicted of filicide and 45 of filicide-suicide in the United Kingdom between 1997 and 2006 showed that 37% of the perpetrators had a recorded mental illness at the time. The most common diagnoses were mood disorders and personality disorders rather than psychosis, but the latter accounted for 15% of cases. However – similar to findings in a large Danish study – the majority had not had contact with mental health services prior to the murders, and few had received treatment. Female perpetrators were more likely to have given birth as teenagers. Fathers were more likely to have been convicted of violent offences and have a history of substance misuse, and were more likely to kill multiple victims. Infants were more likely to be victims than older children, and a link to post-partum depression was suggested. [4]
Dr. Phillip Resnick published research on filicide in 1969 and stated that there were five main motives for filicide, including "altruistic", "fatal maltreatment", "unwanted child", "acutely psychotic" and "spousal revenge". [5] "Altruistic" killings occur because the parent believes that the world is too cruel for the child, or because the child is enduring suffering (whether this is actually occurring or not). In fatal maltreatment killings, the goal is not always to kill the child, but death may occur anyway, and Munchausen syndrome by proxy is in that category. Spousal revenge killings are killings of children done to indirectly harm a domestic partner; they do not frequently occur. [5] Glen Carruthers, author of "Making sense of spousal revenge filicide", argued that those who engage in spousal revenge killings see their own children as objects. [6]
In 2013, in the United States, homicide was in the top five causes of deaths of children, and in the top three causes of death in children between 1 and 4 years old. [7] A direct correlation has been identified between child abuse rates and child homicide rates. Research suggests that children murdered by their parents were physically abused by them prior to their death. [8]
 |
| Victim(s) | Perpetrator(s) | Relation of parent to child(ren) | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jephthah's daughter (sometimes Seila or Iphis) | Jephthah | Father | Unknown | Ancient Israel | Jephthah is a biblical figure who is described in Judges 11 as inadvertently promising to sacrifice his daughter to Yahweh, which he does with her encouragement. [9] |
| Titus and Tiberius Junius Brutus | Lucius Junius Brutus | Father | 509 BC | Roman Republic | Lucius Junius Brutus, who is usually credited with overthrowing the final King of Rome Lucius Tarquinius Superbus and establishing the Roman Republic, executed his sons Titus and Tiberius when they were implicated in a plot to restore the monarchy. [10] [11] |
| Son of Aulus Postumius Tubertus | Aulus Postumius Tubertus | Father | 431 BC | Roman Republic | There is a story that Aulus Postumius Tubertus, who served as dictator in the year 431 BC, had his son put to death when he abandoned a post assigned to him in order to attack the enemy. The account is doubted by Roman historian Livy, due to similarities to stories about the family of Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus (see below). [12] |
| Son of Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus | Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus | Father | 340 BC | Latium, Italian Peninsula, Roman Republic | During the Latin War, Roman consul Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus executed his own son after he left his post in order to attack a group of Latins, leading to a reputation in his family for extreme discipline. [13] |
| Decimus Junius Silanus Manlianus | Titus Manlius Torquatus | Father | 140 BC | Roman Republic | While serving as Praetor in Macedonia, Decimus Junius Silanus Manlianus was accused of corruption by Macedonian envoys. His father Titus Manlius Torquatus, a senior Senator, was granted permission to privately try his son in his home. Despite knowing that the family code of honour would compel his son to commit suicide, Titus sentenced his son to banishment from his sight, causing Manlianus to take his own life. His severity was supposedly inspired by his descendance from the equally severe Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus (see above). [14] [15] |
| Son of Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus | Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus | Father | c. 116 BC | Roman Republic | Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus, consul in 116 BC, condemned one of his sons to death for "immorality". [16] |
| Jin Nong'er | Jin Midi | Father | 121-87 BC | Western Han Empire | Jin Midi killed his own son Nong'er after the latter entered the imperial harem. This cemented the respect Jin Midi, by descent a Xiongnu prince, already had from Emperor Wu of Han; later Jin ascended to the rank of general of chariots and cavalry. [17] |
| Alexander I and Aristobulus IV | Herod the Great | Father | 7 BC | Herodian Kingdom of Judea | According to Josephus, King Herod of Judea had his sons Alexander and Aristobulus strangled because he feared they would usurp him. |
| Claudia Livia (Livilla) | Antonia Minor | Mother | 31 | Roman Empire | Livilla, along with her lover Sejanus, was accused of poisoning Drusus Julius Caesar, the son of Emperor Tiberius. According to historian Cassius Dio, Tiberius placed Livilla in the custody of her mother Antonia, who locked her up in a room where she was starved to death. [18] |
| Aulus Vitellius Petronianus | Vitellius | Father | 69 | Roman Empire | Suetonius wrote that Vitellius was widely believed to have murdered his son in order to inherit the fortune of the boy's maternal grandparents. In this account, Vitellius claimed that his son had attempted parricide beforehand and killed himself out of shame. [19] |
| Children of Liu Chen (Shu Han) | Liu Chen (Shu Han) | Father | December 263 | Shu Han, Ancient China | It is recorded in the Records of the Three Kingdoms that Liu Chen killed himself and his family after the surrender of his father led to the fall of the Shu Han empire. [20] |
| Crispus | Constantine the Great | Father | 326 | Pula, Istria, Roman Empire | For unclear reasons, Crispus was sentenced to death by his father Emperor Constantine the Great in 326 AD. [21] [22] |
| Constantine VI | Irene of Athens | Mother | c. 797 (before 805) | Byzantine Empire | Irene of Athens organised a conspiracy to have her son Constantine VI eliminated so she could become sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire. On 19 August 797, her supporters gouged out his eyes and had him imprisoned. He died sometime before 805, possibly as a result of his injuries. [23] |
| Savcı Bey | Murad I | Father | c. 1373 | Ottoman Empire | Convinced by Andronikos IV Palaiologos, son of John V Palaiologos, Savcı Bey rebelled against his father Murad I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, in an attempt to seize power. He was unsuccessful and his father had him executed. [24] [25] |
| Cristobal | Acxotécatl | Father | 1527 | Tlaxcala, New Spain | After Cristobal converted from the indigenous religion of his family to Catholicism, he started to destroy religious icons in his family home. This provoked his father Acxotécatl to viciously beat him – in an attempt to make him renounce his new faith – before he burnt his son to death over a fire. He is one of the Child Martyrs of Tlaxcala. [26] [27] |
| Şehzade Mustafa | Suleiman the Magnificent | Father | 6 October 1553 | Ereğli, Ottoman Empire | Suleiman I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, ordered the death of his son Şehzade Mustafa after mistakenly believing that he was conspiring against him. The responsibility for this is usually placed on Rüstem Pasha. [28] [29] |
| Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich | Ivan the Terrible | Father | 19 November 1581 | Alexandrov Kremlin, Tsardom of Russia | Although exact details are unconfirmed, it is believed that Ivan Ivanovich confronted his father Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich (Ivan the Terrible) after his pregnant wife Yelena Sheremeteva was physically assaulted by him, which possibly caused her to subsequently miscarry. The confrontation led to an argument, during which Tsar Ivan became enraged and hit his son over the head with a sceptre, an injury which he died from a few days later. [30] [31] [32] Tsar Ivan felt great regret following the act, and his grief is famously depicted in Ilya Repin's painting, Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan . |
| Mohammad Baqer Mirza | Abbas the Great | Father | 1615 | Rasht, Safavid Iran | After starting to believe that his son Mohammad Baqer Mirza was planning to overthrow him, Abbas the Great ordered Behbud Khan Cherkes to murder him in a hammam in the city of Resht. He immediately regretted the decision and was plunged into despair. [33] [34] |
| Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia | Peter the Great | Father | 26 June 1718 | Petropavlovskaya fortress, Empire of Russia | Alexei was suspected of being involved in a plot to overthrow his father, Tsar Peter I of Russia, who had him tortured into making a confession – possibly taking part personally. Alexei was convicted and sentenced to death, but died of his injuries before the execution could be carried out, most likely due to him having received over forty lashes with a knout. [35] [36] |
Honor killing, murder of a person for violating the strict reputation of the family.
Infanticide is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of resources being spent on weak or disabled offspring. Unwanted infants were usually abandoned to die of exposure, but in some societies they were deliberately killed. Infanticide is broadly illegal, but in some places the practice is tolerated, or the prohibition is not strictly enforced.
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three murders, others extend it to four or lessen it to two.
Flavius Julius Crispus was the eldest son of the Roman emperor Constantine I, as well as his junior colleague (caesar) from March 317 until his execution by his father in 326. The grandson of the augustus Constantius I, Crispus was the elder half-brother of the future augustus Constantine II and became co-caesar with him and with his cousin Licinius II at Serdica, part of the settlement ending the Cibalensean War between Constantine and his father's rival Licinius I. Crispus ruled from Augusta Treverorum (Trier) in Roman Gaul between 318 and 323 and defeated the navy of Licinius I at the Battle of the Hellespont in 324, which with the land Battle of Chrysopolis won by Constantine forced the resignation of Licinius and his son, leaving Constantine the sole augustus and the Constantinian dynasty in control of the entire empire. It is unclear what the legal status of the relationship Crispus's mother Minervina had with Constantine was; Crispus may have been an illegitimate son.
Abbas I, commonly known as Abbas the Great, was the fifth shah of Safavid Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the greatest rulers of Iranian history and the Safavid dynasty.
Parricide refers to the deliberate killing of one's own father and mother, spouse, children, and/or close relative. However, the term is sometimes used more generally to refer to the intentional killing of a near relative. It is an umbrella term that can be used to refer to acts of matricide and patricide.
Matricide is the act of killing one's own mother.
Uxoricide is the killing of one's own wife. It can refer to the act itself or the person who carries it out. It can also be used in the context of the killing of one's own girlfriend. The killing of a husband or boyfriend is called mariticide.
Otto Ohlendorf was a German SS functionary and Holocaust perpetrator during the Nazi era. An economist by education, he was head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) Inland, responsible for intelligence and security within Germany. In 1941, Ohlendorf was appointed the commander of Einsatzgruppe D, which perpetrated mass murder in Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea and, during 1942, the North Caucasus. He was tried at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, sentenced to death, and executed by hanging in 1951.
Mariticide literally means the killing of one's own husband. It can refer to the act itself or the person who carries it out. It can also be used in the context of the killing of one's own boyfriend. In current common law terminology, it is used as a gender-neutral term for killing one's own spouse or significant other of either sex. The killing of a wife or girlfriend is called uxoricide.
A familicide is a type of murder or murder-suicide in which an individual kills multiple close family members in quick succession, most often children, spouses, siblings, or parents. In half the cases, the killer lastly kills themselves in a murder-suicide. If only the parents are killed, the case may also be referred to as a parricide. Where all members of a family are killed, the crime may be referred to as family annihilation.
The Macdonald triad is a set of three factors, the presence of any two of which are considered to be predictive of, or associated with, violent tendencies, particularly with relation to serial offenses. The triad was first proposed by psychiatrist J. M. Macdonald in "The Threat to Kill", a 1963 article in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Small-scale studies conducted by psychiatrists Daniel Hellman and Nathan Blackman, and then FBI agents John E. Douglas and Robert K. Ressler along with Ann Burgess, claimed substantial evidence for the association of these childhood patterns with later predatory behavior. Although it remains an influential and widely taught hypothesis, subsequent research has generally not validated this line of thinking.
Neonaticide is the deliberate act of a parent murdering their own child during the first 24 hours of life. As a noun, the word "neonaticide" may also refer to anyone who practices or who has practiced this.
Avunculicide is the act of killing an uncle. The word can also refer to someone who commits such an act. The term is derived from the Latin words avunculus meaning "maternal uncle" and caedere meaning "to cut down" or "to kill". Edmunds suggests that in mythology avunculicide is a substitute for parricide. The killing of a nephew is a nepoticide.
The murders of Koby Mandell and Yosef Ishran occurred on 8 May 2001, when two Jewish teenagers, Yaakov "Koby" Mandell and Yosef Ishran, were killed on the outskirts of the Israeli settlement of Tekoa in the West Bank, where they lived with their families. The identity of the killers has never been determined, though Israel and a number of sources state that unidentified Palestinian terrorists were responsible.
Davina and Jasmine Kumari-Baker were murdered by their mother who stabbed them to death at their home in Stretham, Cambridgeshire, England, while they slept on 13 June 2007. Rekha Kumari-Baker was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 33 years. In 2010 the BBC stated that the punishment was "one of the longest jail terms given to a woman in the UK in modern times."
Mohammad Baqer Mirza better known in the West as Safi Mirza (صفیمیرزا) was the oldest son of Shah Abbas the Great, and the crown prince of the Safavid dynasty during Abbas' reign and his own short life.
John David Battaglia Jr. was an American convicted murderer who was executed by the state of Texas for filicide. He was convicted of killing his two young daughters in May 2001 in an act of "ultimate revenge" against his estranged ex-wife, Mary Jeane Pearle, who had separated from him after his numerous instances of assault and violence. Battaglia was executed for the murders on February 1, 2018.
Frances Elaine Campione is an Ontario woman who murdered her two children in Barrie, Ontario, on October 2, 2006. Canadian prosecutors argued that she wanted to get revenge on her ex-husband and was afraid he would receive custody.
The Disability Day of Mourning is observed annually on 1 March to commemorate disabled people who were murdered by their caregivers, especially their parents. First observed in 2012 and propagated by disability rights organizations such as Not Dead Yet and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the day aims to bring attention to the issue of filicide of disabled children and adults and the degree to which such murders are treated as different from or more socially acceptable than similar murders of abled people.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)But did Jephthah actually offer his daughter as a burnt offering? The majority view for centuries has been that he did.