SIDS: As a Murder Cover Up for Serial Killers

Woman are responsible for ten percent of the United States murders every year. Twelve percent of serial murders are committed by woman. This may come as a surprise to most considering "until recently serial killers were considered to be men only" (The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, 2000)

It is noted however that in Ancient Rome, a woman known only as Locusta the Poisener was the very first serial killer. Little is recorded except that she killed both Emporer Claudius and his heir. Locusta the Poisener was eventually executed in AD 69.
Many factors differentiate female from male serial killers. A term known as Modus Operandi states that females "typically reverse the trends of male serial killers". (Encyclopedia of Serial Killers) The majority of male serial killers are not stationary where as 29 percent of women serial killers are stationary. These woman are mostly classified as black widows, killing family and repeatingly remarrying after murdering the current husband. Female serial killers are also known for a higher number of medical murders, occuring in nursing homes, hospitals and the such.

Motives differ among the sexes. Fourteen percent of American serial killers kill for a monetary purpose where as 41 percent of females serial killers kill for cash. Other motives for female murderers include revenge, to kill because of a "hero" complex, mercy killing and occasionally sexual sadism.

Throughout history cases have shown woman serial killers literally "getting away with murder". Many of these woman are mothers who continuously kill their children and the children in their care. In most cases they were not stopped until after five or more deaths. As ludacris as this sounds, a major fact for this delay is S.I.D.S, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In the early 1900's S.I.D.S. was a new term to doctors, the tatal symptoms were broad. It wasn't until the late 1980's that the criteria for diagnosing S.I.D.S. became more defined. According to Michael Newton, author of "The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers" "an average seven to eight thousand babies doe from S.I.D.S. in the United States each year with no symptoms of any recognized illness." It is also documented that "authorities now believe that as many as twenty percent of alleged S.I.D.S. victims may in fact have been murdered by parents or other care takers."

Even though pediatricians agree that two S.I.D.S. cases in one family is extremely rare, the chance of three in one family is impossible, currently only ten states conduct routine autopsies on S.I.D.S. victims. Unfortunately the majority of doctors and prosecutors routinely wait for more than three babies in one family to die from S.I.D.S. before taking action. On the third they will then exhume the body and do an autopsy. Not much will likely be seen from an autopsy though, "since most serial baby killers choose "gentle" suffocation".

Terrifyingly, there may be many serial baby killers loose on the streets today, free because of a S.I.D.S. cover up. One case starting 1972 in Schenectady, New York a woman named Mary Beth Roe Tinning killed eight children before she was stopped in 1985. Tinning actually had nine children die. The first chield died at eight days old, but she never left the hospital. This fact caused authorities to believe it was this first childs death that brought on Tinnings murder streak. Psychiatrists believe that Tinning's suffered from a disorder called Munchausen's Syndrome by proxy.

Munchausen's Syndrome is a disorder in which a person suffers from extreme hypochondria. This person will compulsively seek sympathy by falsifying illnesses and in some cases purposely injure themselves. The parralel condition involved in female serial killers is Munchausen's Syndrome by proxy. In this case, mothers have a need to feel sympathized for, they need the attention from others that they receive after their children die. In Mary Tinning's case, it is believed that after witnessing the sympathy and attention given to her after her first child died of natural causes, caused an addiction to the sympathy.
Cases were opened and closed against Tinning during those thirteen years however jurors were unable to see past the fake tears and overwhelming "saddness" she displayed. Tinning's childrens deaths were listed as three cases of S.I.D.S., bronchial pnuemonia, respiratoryillness, cardiac arrest and a couple of unknowns. Most of her children died within weeks of each other.

There are many recorded cases of "S.I.D.S." murders over the past three decades. Their stories are all very similiar, several children dying suddenly with no symptoms of abuse or illness. Many of these cases, including Tinning's had children up to the age of six years old supposedly dying of S.I.D.S.

Because S.I.D.S. by definition has very few symptoms to help with diagnoses, it is difficult to decipher murder from an actual S.I.D.S. death. One rule doctors now go by is the fact that infants, new bornes in particular are at risk for S.I.D.S. The likelihood of S.I.D.S decreases when the infant is able to lift and turn his head. Pediatricians also suggest lying the sleeping baby on his back and removing all stuffed animals and extra blankets from his sleeping area.

Although these rules are in place, ruling out the possibility of murder in a S.ID.S. case is difficult. In the case of Debra Tuggle, she killed two of her own children (a two year old and two month old) in 1974, a nine month old in 1976 and a fourth in 1979; all under the S.I.D.S. cover up. After marrying a man with three children of his own, Tuggle then killed his two year old. Because the children had different fathers and last names, it took health workers years to catch on to her game. Even when put on trial, the S.I.D.S. cases were to tough to rule out and Tuggle was only convicted on one count of murder. She was sentenced to only ten years.

Until doctors can create clear cut indicators for S.I.D,S. diagnoses, child murders will continue. One hope is that the minimal criteria currently used of age and number of incidents will cause a decrease in infant and child murders.