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Double Parricide: An In‐Depth Look at Two Victim Homicides Involving Parents as Victims
Author(s) -
Fegadel Averi R.,
Heide Kathleen M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
behavioral sciences and the law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1099-0798
pISSN - 0735-3936
DOI - 10.1002/bsl.2189
Subject(s) - poison control , homicide , injury prevention , suicide prevention , human factors and ergonomics , psychology , newspaper , juvenile delinquency , psychiatry , criminology , medicine , medical emergency , advertising , business
The majority of studies examining the killing of parents and step‐parents by biological and stepchildren involve a single victim and single offender. Little is known when parricide incidents involve multiple victims or multiple offenders. Using the National Incident‐Based Reporting System (NIBRS), this study examined double parricide incidents involving single or multiple offenders over the 20‐year period 1991–2010 with the aim of investigating juvenile and adult involvement. Forty‐five incidents of double parricide were identified and verified; in 35 of these cases, the offenders acted alone. Frequencies reported include offender, victim, and incident characteristics. The results indicated that the typical double parricide offender who acted alone was a White male approximately 30 years of age. When multiple offenders were involved, the offenders tended to be younger and were more likely to include a female accomplice. Newspapers were utilized to augment available case information. Study limitations, implications, and directions for future research are also discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.