204 8 Court and the Legal System—Family Forensics
depression considering their past and/or current history of schizophrenia, although
the symptoms are similar.
Another explanation for why a mother would kill her child is Munchausen
syndrome by proxy (MSBP). Munchausen's is a disorder found in the DSM-IV as
an appendix to factitious disorder. It differs from factitious disorder in that a person
with Munchausen syndrome has a psychological need to feign certain illnesses but
for no external purpose, as is found with factitious disorder. Patients with this
syndrome have been known to inject themselves with poisons, urine, and feces
so that they will become ill and be admitted to a hospital or otherwise receive
medical attention. Munchausen's occurs when parents cause illness in their children
through these means, requiring constant medical attention. Although the incidences
of MSBP are rare and not researched enough to stand alone in the DSM-IV, there
have been enough cases to support its existence. In most of the known cases, death
is the ultimate fate of the children because the parent will stop at nothing to fulfill
their own need (Pitt & Bale, 1995).
Just as it is odd to conceive of a mother killing the life to which she has given
birth, it is difficult to fathom a child killing the parent who gave him or her life.
Nevertheless, parricide, the killing of one's parent(s), is more common than one
would expect. Parricide was highly publicized by the Menendez trial in Southern
California where Eric and Lyle Menendez were charged with killing their wealthy
parents for the purpose of receiving their inheritances. The defense team claimed
that the boys killed their parents in an act of self-defense, given the continual abuse
they received from their father. Nevertheless, after much debate, the boys were
charged with the murders but spared from the death penalty.
Similar to battered women, some children kill their parent(s) because of a history
of abuse suffered by them or witnessed toward the other parent. Further, some
youths kill in self-defense during an episode of their abuse; others kill on random
occasions as a result of their continual abuse. In terms of Carla, the scenario may
have had a different conclusion had her son entered the kitchen and witnessed his
father beating his mother as described. Out of fear and anger, the son could have
run into his parents' room, grabbed the loaded gun from his father's nightstand, and
returned to the kitchen to shoot and kill his father. Heide (1992) claims that "these
children, typically adolescents, were psychologically abused by one or both parents
and often witnessed or suffered physical, sexual, and verbal abuse as well" (p. 3).
Other factors associated with parricide are mental illness, antisocial personalities,
and greed. These can be sole factors but are most likely exhibited as combinations.
Greed is rarely found to be a full explanation for why children commit parricide,
although some cases have been reported. Children whose immediate motivation
for killing their parents is greed will most likely have evidence of antisocial char-
acteristics, abusive pasts, or mental illness. In these instances, the child is usually
convicted on terms associated with insanity. In those cases where greed was found
to be the sole determinant for the murder, other determinants such as antisocial
personality were most likely not effectively explored or not accepted by the jury