What could possibly incite parents to kill their own children?
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This collection of "Filicidal Killers" provides a gripping overview of how things can go horribly wrong in once-loving families. Parents Who Killed their Children depicts ten of the most notorious and horrific cases of homicidal parental units out of control. People like--Andrea Yates, Diane Downs, Susan Smith, and Jeffrey MacDonald--who received a great deal of media attention. The author explores the reasons; from addiction to postpartum psychosis, insanity to altruism.
Each story is detailed with background information on the parents, the murder scenes, trials, sentencing and aftermath. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY - "{A} valuable resource and reference book for Criminologists and Psychologists on the fraught subject of maternal filicide, supported with ten case studies. A clear-eyed view on the most heartbreaking of crimes."
SUSPENSE MAGAZINE - "Parents Who Kill Their Children is a great read for aficionados of true crime. The way the author laid the cases out made the hair on the back of my neck stand up."
CASES INCLUDE: Andrea Yates
Darlie Routier
Susan Eubanks
Lianne Smith
Alan Bristol
Jeffrey MacDonald
Deanna Laney
Susan Smith
Tonya Thomas
Diane Downs "Acclaimed true crime author, RJ Parker, has a knack for collecting high-profile cases under specific themes. This collection about parents who kill their children provides a fast-paced, gripping overview of how things can go horribly wrong in once-loving families. From Andrea Yates to Jeffrey MacDonald to Susan Smith, Parker reports on the stunning case details and suggests reasons why the parental bond can get so twisted. The updates at the end of each chapter add a lot, since popular media rarely follows up. An important reference for true crime readers."
- Dr. Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D., bestselling author of "The Mind of a Murderer" and "The Ivy League Killer."
"Too many times, we assume the parenting instinct is natural, particularly in females. RJ Parker proves, with accounts of parents who murder their own children, the instinct can simply be missing entirely. In this harrowing collection of cases, Parker explores the crime of filicide, and seeks to find an answer: why a parent could murder their child."
-Judith A. Yates, Author of "When Nashville Bled" & "The Devil You Know," winner of the 2014 Silver Falchion Award for True Crime
"Is there anything more reprehensible than filicide--that is, the intended act of a parent killing his or her own child? In "Parents Who Killed Their Children," the award-winning true crime author RJ Parker shines a powerful light on this dark and sordid phenomenon. First, Parker offers a number of possible psychological and environmental causes (or at least correlates) of filicide. Then he presents ten shocking, real life case histories of parents who murdered their children. The result is a book that is bound to make you rethink the absolute sanctity of motherhood and reflect on why some mothers do indeed "eat their young." This is a powerful read and another hard-hitting, compelling entry by RJ Parker."
- Dr. Scott Bonn, Ph.D, criminologist, professor and author of the forthcoming "Why We Love Serial Killers" October 2014 from Skyhorse Press.
"The only thing more shocking than female serial killers is when mom or dad kills their own children. RJ Parker has collected some of the most notorious and horrific cases of homicidal parental units out of control. Shocking and gripping."
- Dr. Peter Vronsky Ph.D., investigative criminal justice historian and filmmaker. The author of the bestselling history of serial murder, "Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters" and "Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters."
