title: Filicide-Suicide: Case Series and Review of the Literature.
abstract: Homicide-suicides or "dyadic deaths" refer to a homicide followed by the suicide of the perpetrator within 1 week of the homicide. A unique subset is filicide-suicide: a parent kills his/her child before committing suicide. Shooting is the preferred method for both the homicide and suicide. The perpetrator has depression in most cases.We present 3 cases of filicide-suicide. In case 1, a divorced mother with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder shot her son and herself. In case 2, a father shot his son and himself while involved in a child-custody dispute. In case 3, a father, experiencing a divorce and financial difficulties, and his daughter with Angelman syndrome succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.The forensic pathologist should be aware of the psychosocial dynamics that interplay in filicide-suicide. Diligent attention to a parent's life stressors may aid in determining risk factors for filicide-suicide.
authors.affiliation: From the *Norton Neuroscience Institute, Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY; †State Medical Examiner Office, Anchorage, AK; ‡Office of the Associate Chief Medical Examiner, Frankfort, KY; §Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Tulsa, OK; and ∥Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY.
authors.forename: Lisa B E
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Shields
authors.forename: Cristin M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Rolf
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Goolsby
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hunsaker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017204:Angelman Syndrome; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D002249:Carbon Monoxide Poisoning; D002648:Child; D002655:Child Custody; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013405:Suicide