From Parent to Child Murderer

Should parents be required to take a test determining their sanity once it is established that they are expecting a child? Should delusional parents be allowed to keep children at all within their immediate care? These questions are constantly on the minds of the prosecutors, judges and law enforcement that deal with child murderers. Unfortunately the research is limited to a few select choices when it comes to the whys.

Studies on parents who bring harm to their small children and babies typically includes one or more of the following: severe depression, narcissism, psychosis, revenge, regret fear of being a bad parent or the capability of being able to provide for a child. In contrast to popular belief, researchers claim that well under one-percent of these cases involve the consideration of insanity, and when such a plea is used, it's unsuccessful three out of four times. And the more horrific a crime, the less likely it is that it will work.

A Loving Mother Kills Her Autistic Daughter

"Hush little baby don't say a word, momma's going to smother you till no more words can be heard." And that is exactly what Karen McCarron did as she watched her child take her last breath through a plastic bag that she firmly held over her airways while sucking the life out of her three-year old daughter. Sadly, this is the excuse that the mother of the child gives in answer as to why she would take an innocent life, and that is simply that the child was autistic and that she couldn't deal with all that it entailed.

39-year-old pathologist Karen McCarron claims to have loved her daughter Katie more than life itself, but somehow that concept doesn't seem likely when you consider the child's birth right that should have included nurturing, a concept unfounded by Katie's birth mother. Karen McCarron excused her actions by claiming distress over the fact that her daughter could not relate to her and reportedly felt guilty that the vaccines she gave her daughter might have caused her autism.

Karen entered Katie into special classes that included therapy and teachers that worked with autistic children, but witnessed no advancement in her daughter's behavior. She simply would not accept a child with a disability, and took care of the problem the only way that she personally saw fit.

A grand jury indicted her on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of obstructing justice and one count of concealment of a homicidal death. McCarron went to trial on January 7, 2008 and after a week-long trial, was convicted of first degree murder, obstruction of justice, and concealing a homicidal death on January 17, 2008. She is currently serving a 36-year sentence at the Illinois Department of Corrections.

A Narcissistic Father Kills His Three Kids for Revenge

"Honey you have pissed me off so badly that I felt the need to murder our children in an attempt to pay you back!" This is the only explanation that 41-year old Mark Castillo could offer, as he wanted revenge in the worst way, but wasn't quite sure just how he could go about setting his wife off in a fashion that would hurt her where it counted the most. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks that if he murdered his three young children his estranged wife would get the punishment that he felt she deserved.

The bitter custody battle with his wife Dr. Amy Castillo over Anthony, 6, Austin, 4 and Athena, 2 was threatening Mark Castillo's very sanity as he had recently been diagnosed with a narcissistic personality disorder, a condition that can cause a person to become preoccupied with their self.

Amy Castillo, a pediatrician with Kaiser Permanente's Mid-Atlantic region, was aware of Mark's condition and had warned court officials at past hearings of the dangers her estranged husband posed on her three small children. Her words went unheard in the he said-she said landslide that left Mark with temporary full access to the Castillo children.

The distraught father of three drove himself and the children to the Marriott Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland on Christmas Day and settled into room 1060. Shortly after arriving in the early evening he bathed his children one by one and for reasons only known to Mr. Castillo decided to drown them. He placed their nude bodies on the bed, swallowed a hundred ibuprofens and called the front desk of the Marriott, alerting them to what he had done.

Mark Castillo survived his attempted suicide, and was arrested by the Baltimore police. Court papers claim that Mr. Castillo waived his right against self-incrimination and gave a taped confession to homicide detectives. He told them that the motive stemmed from a divorce and custody battle he was having with his wife.

Shot in the Name of Love

In mid May of 1983 the horrific details of the "she-said" story made headlines that rocked the nation, inspiring author Anne Rule to write "Small Sacrifices" which became a best seller. Then in 1989 "Small Sacrifices" became a made-for-television movie that starred Farrah Fawcett. Now 25 years later we are reminded of the horrific events that took place as Diane Downs faces a parole board while pleading for her freedom.

It is believed by those that knew her that the motive for shooting her children was ironically for love. Diane Downs delivered mail by day and partied hard by night. It wasn't long before she took notice of a fellow male co-worker with whom she had a brief affair who quickly admitted to having no interest in a woman with three children.

What does a woman in love with a man who wants no baggage to do? She gets rid of it as quickly as possible as not to interrupt her life, at least this is what the facts tell us. After an extensive investigation it was found that Diane Downs shot and killed her 7-year-old daughter Cheryl and seriously wounded her two other children 3-year old Danny and 8-year old Christie, while out for a drive. She insists to this day that a bushy-headed stranger was in fact the one who pulled the trigger on a rural road near Springfield, Oregon.

Downs was found guilty on all charges on June 17, 1984, and was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. Most of her sentence is to be served consecutively. The judge made it clear that he did not wish for Diane to ever regain her freedom. It looks like his wish came true as the Oregon parole board ruled early in December 2008 that Diane Downs must remain in prison, and is not eligible for parole again until 2011.

During a 2008 episode of the cable television documentary series "Most Evil", Dr. Michael Stone (Abnormalities of Personality Within and Beyond the Realm of Treatment) declared Diane Downs a "criminal psychopath" which translates in medical terms as one who is genetically predisposed, narcissistic antisocial who wants what he or she wants, regardless of any cost to others. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/467705/dr_michael_stone_a_forensic_psychiatrist.html

Murdering Mothers versus Murdering Fathers

The statistics according to Newsweek have concluded that when you compare mothers who kill to fathers who kill, mothers tend to kill young children, newborns, and it's often a result of either postpartum depression or to hide the evidence of a birth such as if a very young mother panics. The children tend to be older when fathers do it, and that may dovetail with physical abuse. Also, when mothers kill their children, the ratio of boys to girls tends to be even. When fathers do it, they're more likely to kill their male offspring.

Children Murdered by a Parent

In 1971 John List murdered his entire family which consisted of his elderly mother, wife, and three children. He was the subject of a nationwide manhunt which resulted in his capture in 1989.

Sheryl Hardy was sent to prison in Florida in 1989 for the murder of her two-year old son, Bradley. Hardy, 33, said she lit a cigarette and watched as her husband, Thomas Coe, shoved his stepson's head into the toilet like a plunger and then beat him with couch cushions. Bradley died the next day. Hardy's defense was that her son Bradley was conceived out of rape.

The Prom Mom" Melissa Drexler arrived at her 1997 senior prom, gave birth to a 6 lb, 6 oz son, baby boy, strangled him to death, and then threw him into the garbage. She returned to the prom where she ate and requested the Metallica song "Unforgiven" to be played for her boyfriend. She later plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter.

In 2003 Deanna Laney stoned two of her own sons to death, critically injured a third, and claims God told her to do it. A Texas jury found the unremorseful mother not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.

37-year old Lam Luong, a shrimp fisherman threw his four young children, two boys and two girls, all under the age of 3, to their deaths in January of 2008. He admitted that he became angered after a dispute with his wife which led to his tossing his four young children off the Dauphin Island bridge in Alabama.

In early 2008 Latrice Brewer was charged with first-degree murder in the drowning death of her three children Jewell Ward, 6, Michael Demesyeux, 5, and Demesyeux, 18 months, the Nassau County Police Department said in a news release.

Andrea Yates drowned her five children in 2002. A Houston jury rejected her insanity defense and she received a life sentence. According to testimony given during the case, Yates suffered from postpartum depression and was under professional care.