Parricide
Parricide refers to the act of murdering one's parents and can be categorized into patricide (killing a father) and matricide (killing a mother). Although parricide is rare, it constitutes about 1% of all homicides in the United States. Commonly associated with individuals who have experienced abuse or mental illness, parricide cases often attract significant media attention, particularly those involving children or adolescents. In fact, while there is a widespread perception that youth predominantly commit these crimes, studies show that only about 20% of parricides are carried out by offenders under 18. Research indicates that males are more frequently the perpetrators, making up around 86% of cases. The motivations behind parricide can vary, with some offenders being severely abused or mentally ill, while others may view their parents as obstacles to their desires. Notable cases, such as those of Lizzie Borden and the Menendez brothers, have contributed to the public's fascination with parricide, resulting in extensive coverage and cultural references. Understanding the complexities surrounding parricide involves considering both the psychological factors at play and its impact on society.
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Parricide
The term parricide may refer both to a person who murders his or her parents and to the act of committing such a murder. In the United States, the term usually describes the act of killing one's parents. Expert criminologists have found that children who commit parricide usually have been abused or neglected in some way and/or have been diagnosed with mental illness. Among children who commit parricide, most choose a firearm as their preferred weapon. Throughout history, a few people accused of parricide, including Lizzie Borden and brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, have achieved a level of infamy that has made them fixtures in popular culture.
Overview
Parricide is the crime of murdering one's parents. More specifically, the term patricide describes the murder of one's father, and matricide describes the murder of one's mother. Parricide is very uncommon. In the United States, parricides account for about 1 percent of all homicides committed within a given year.
Cases involving children under the age of eighteen who commit parricide typically receive much attention from media outlets. For this reason, many are under the misconception that children and adolescents are responsible for most parricides. However, expert criminologist Kathleen M. Heide, who has authored several books on the subject of parricide, says that only about 20 percent of parricides are carried out by youthful offenders. In most cases, offenders are past the age of eighteen when they commit their crimes. A study by psychiatry specialists Sara G. West and Mendel Feldsher published in Current Psychiatry in 2010 found that males are more likely than females to commit parricide. They studied more than 5,000 cases of parricide in the United States and found that 86 percent had been committed by males. A similar study in 2019 found that parricide was predominantly committed by middle-class White males.
In her research, Heide has discovered some common characteristics among parricide offenders. For example, many children who kill their parents have been abused (physically, psychologically, sexually, or verbally) or neglected by their parents. They have experienced or witnessed domestic violence and/or substance abuse in their home. Some offenders have been spoiled and lack an understanding of boundaries. Many are unable to handle anger or stress and, as a result, turn to violence. In addition, Heide has found that in most cases involving youthful offenders, the weapon of choice was some type of firearm. It is important to note, however, that while these characteristics are common among youthful parricide offenders, they are not indicators that parricide is likely to occur. Most children who have experienced these circumstances do not go on to kill their parents.
In her books on the subject of parricide, Heide describes several types of parricide offenders. These types include the "severely abused," the "severely mentally ill," and the "dangerously antisocial." Severely abused offenders constantly feel like they are in danger and have no way to escape the situation. Some develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from the conditions in which they were raised. Severely mentally ill offenders usually have been diagnosed with mental illness (e.g., depression, schizophrenia). They may experience hallucinations or hear voices. They may take medications to manage their conditions, but in many cases, investigators discover that offenders stopped taking their medications prior to committing their crimes. Dangerously antisocial offenders often see their parents as an obstacle to getting what they want. They kill their parents to eliminate the obstacle.
In Popular Culture
The idea of children killing their parents is so shocking and dreadful that cases of parricide tend to cause a media frenzy when they occur. For this reason, some of these alleged and/or convicted parent murderers have earned a certain level of notoriety, and their stories have endured over time.
Perhaps one of the most infamous cases of suspected parricide in history is that of Lizzie Borden, who, at 32 years old, was accused of killing her father and stepmother with a hatchet on August 4, 1892. Despite the lack of physical evidence, police arrested Borden, and the case went to trial in June 1893. The prosecution tried to pin the crime on Borden, but the jury returned a not guilty verdict, and Borden went free. Afterward, Borden and her sister bought a new home with money they inherited as a result of their father's death. Many of Borden's neighbors believed that the young woman was guilty, and that shadow followed her until her own death in 1927.
Borden's alleged parricide continues to captivate the world, likely because the crime remained unsolved. Many can recite the children's jump-rope song associated with the crimes: "Lizzie Borden took an axe / She gave her mother forty whacks / When she saw what she had done / She gave her father forty-one." The Borden family's saga has been captured in books, TV shows, and movies. In 2014, actress Christina Ricci played Lizzie Borden in the Lifetime movie Lizzie Borden Took an Ax. A cartoon version of Lizzie Borden even showed up in an episode of The Simpsons. Moreover, the former Borden family home has been turned into the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast.
Another notorious case of parricide that continues to receive attention in the twenty-first century is that of the Menendez brothers, Lyle and Erik. Although they tried to cover up their involvement in the murders at first, the Menendez brothers eventually admitted to shooting their parents, José and Mary ("Kitty"), in their Beverly Hills, California, home on August 20, 1989. The case fascinated the nation, in part because the whole trial aired on Court TV. During the young men's trial in 1994, the defense argued that the boys had suffered years of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at the hands of their parents and that their decision to kill their parents came from a place of fear. The prosecutors argued that Lyle and Erik, who were 21 years old and 18 years old, respectively, at the time of the murders, killed their parents for their money. The Menendez brothers' first trial ended with a hung jury, and the judge was forced to declare a mistrial. During the retrial in 1995, however, the jury found the young men guilty, and they were sentenced to life in prison.
Since then, the Menendez brothers' story has been retold many times. Several TV movies about the murders have been made, including 1994's Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills and 2017's Menendez: Blood Brothers. In 2017, the Law & Order TV series spinoff Law & Order True Crime focused on the Menendez brothers' murder trial and the series The Menendez Murders: Erik Tells All also aired. In 2024, Netflix released a documentary film about the brothers titled The Menendez Brothers. The film featured interviews that reignited interest in the murder. The brothers legal team has attempted to change their fate by asking for a resentencing hearing. In October 2024, the Los Angeles (LA) district attorney announced his support for resentencing the brothers. A resentencing trial was first set for December 2024, but then reset for January 2025, and again reset for March 2025 in light of the LA fires.
Bibliography
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Heide, Kathleen M. Why Kids Kill Parents: Child Abuse and Adolescent Homicide. Sage, 1995.
Kaplan, Anna. "How Will a New LA District Attorney Affect the Menendez Brothers' Resentencing?" Today, 25 Oct. 2024, www.today.com/news/menendez-brothers-resentencing-rcna177229. Accessed 19 Jan. 2025.
"Lizzie Borden." Biography.com, www.biography.com/people/lizzie-borden-9219858. Accessed 19 Jan. 2025.
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O'Hara, Mary Emily. "Bresha Meadows Case: Teen Who Killed Father Gets Deal That Spares Jail Time." NBC News, 22 May 2017, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bresha-meadows-case-teen-who-killed-father-gets-deal-spares-n762906. Accessed 19 Jan. 2025.
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