NCJ Number
149915
Date Published
Unknown
Length
2 pages
Annotation
According to statistics gathered by the Arson and Bombing Investigative Services Program (ABIS) of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC), cases in which parents kill their children through arson may be an emerging, and as yet unrecognized, phenomenon in the U.S.
Abstract
The statistics presented in this article were based on eight cases involving death to children in fires; another six possible cases were discussed with field investigators. Possible motivations for filicide include removal of an unwanted child, acute psychosis on the part of the parents, spouse revenge, and murder for profit. There were several common factors among the cases related to the victims, crime scene, and parents. The children were young, the fires took place at night or early in the morning, in some cases the children had been attacked prior to the fire, flammable liquid had been used to make the fire spread quickly, and escape routes from the building were blocked. In addition, rescue attempts by the adults present were feeble, parents displayed little or no grief and were often fully dressed although they claimed to have been asleep at the time of the fire, and the family had already been referred to child protective services for neglect or other charges. 1 note