Dear dunstan-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
Having spent more than two decades in law enforcement (and I’m still
at it mind you) I can tell you that, in the United States at least,
the elderly do not make up a large portion of overall murderers but
when they do commit murder they are usually no different than anyone
else in terms of how and why they do it. There are some differences
however when one considers the social and medical obstacles that the
elderly face. Assuming, as I said, that in many cases the motivations
are the same regardless of age, the added exception is that elderly
murderers tend find themselves confronted with more complex personal
issues related to desperation, compassion, opposition, depression and
paranoia (often intertwined as I will explain in a moment) rather than
the more common scenarios involving younger murderers in which motives
such as deception, passion, hatred, greed or spontaneous outbursts of
anger are largely to blame exclusively. It has been my experience that
homicides committed by senior citizens are frequently premeditated and
the murderer often contemplates and plans the murder to such a degree
as to ensure it’s success but not necessarily to conceal the fact that
he or she is the murderer. As you might imagine then, murder-suicides
and so-called “mercy killings” make up the vast majority of
circumstances and motives behind homicides committed by elderly
perpetrators.
These are usually the crimes related to desperation and compassion
(some even suggest selfishness). For instance and elderly person who
has cared for or witnessed a beloved spouse deteriorate with a chronic
or degenerative illness might, over time, begin to believe that the
right thing to do is to end his loved one’s suffering. He might
sincerely believe what he is planning to do it actually an act of love
and in doing so seeks only to end the suffering of his spouse or that,
in fact, that he is only doing what his spouse would expect of him. He
sometimes sees it as his duty, even at the risk of being arrested for
the crime, to carry it out. One can only imagine what the
psychological impacts of such stresses are on an elderly individual
over time. To make sure the murder is successful, swift and as
painless as possible he might take whatever measures are necessary to
gain access, sufficiently render and injury to the extent that the
spouse could not be saved by any means, and then simply surrender or
take his own life. The justification, however skewed it may seem to
those of us who are not in his position, is clear. Many times the
legal ramifications are meaningless to this type of murderer because
he has often reasoned that his life is largely over, has little
quality or that his future holds no promise, either because of his
grief over the loss of his mate or due to his own age or hopeless
frailty.
Homicides committed by the elderly involving issues of paranoia range
from that which is sometimes real to that which if occasionally
outrageous. Some elderly people develop the perception that they are
being personally threatened, that their way of life, their property,
their finances or their very freedom is in jeopardy of being taken
away. In a way, desperation also factors into these types of crimes
because the elderly person might come to the conclusion that he must
fight for what is rightfully his. A paranoid person who becomes
homicidal is dangerous regardless of his age of course, but an elderly
person who is unpredictable and feels that he nothing to lose is
especially concerning. Unlike some younger persons, some elderly
people have slower reaction times and decreased reasoning capabilities
and they may react violently to this perceived opposition without
thinking the matter through. The other end of the spectrum of course
is the elderly person who suffered from dementia or some other
condition that makes people, places and circumstances unfamiliar to
him. The resulting paranoia from this sense of confusion can be
powerful and the desperation much more intense. Occasionally, but
infrequently, this type of perpetrator actually seeks out the threat
and endeavors to confront it or eliminate it entirely (relatives,
organizations, government agencies, former associates, etc). At other
times the elderly person seeks to isolate himself and becomes
confrontational only after being opposed. One must keep in mind that a
senior citizen who is paranoid (for whatever reason) has probably
experienced a great deal pressure over time and his level of fear may
be great. The sudden opposition by an outsider, say for instance a
protective agency seeking to place him in a nursing home, can become
his worst nightmare and he might aggressively (and sometimes fatally)
lash out to protect himself. With an already elevated sense of fear
this person’s fuse is sometimes very short and his reaction can be
quite remarkable and explosive without consideration to the outcome.
As you can see, this type of personality ranges from those who want to
fend off a perceived threat to those with a mental illness who
desperately feel the need to eliminate a perceived threat.
The list of course goes and we could never cover each and every reason
why people kill their victims while taking into account ethnicity,
culture, regions and so forth. However, the issues I’ve discussed
above cover the primary differences and reasons behind why the
majority of elderly people commit murder. I hope this provides you
with some insight into the matter. Additionally, I am providing you
with some pertinent excerpts along with the link where I found the
article. I recommend you read these in their entirety to learn more
about the circumstances and motives of elderly murderers:
ELDERLY-COUPLE KILLINGS LINKED TO UNTREATED DEPRESSION
http://www.psych.org/pnews/99-01-01/old.html
“The typical murder-suicide case involves a depressed husband who
shoots his ailing wife. In half the cases, she suffers from
Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or cancer or has a combination of health
problems, and the husband is also in poor health, Cohen told
Psychiatric News. She believes that the vast majority of these women
did not want to die on the basis of medical examiner reports
documenting signs of a struggle and conversations with relatives.
“These are not acts of love but of desperation. The husband who is
often caring for his sick wife becomes depressed and despondent about
a future of pain or illness or a separation involving going to a
nursing home or an assisted-living facility," said Cohen.”
HUSBANDS COMMIT MOST MURDER-SUICIDES -- WITHOUT WIVES' CONSENT.
http://webmd.lycos.com/content/article/11/1674_50291
"People think about killing themselves or their partner for weeks,
months, even years," she says. "Be alert to signs of depression and
get help quickly."
ARIZONA DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FATALITY REVIEW
http://www.azcadv.org/PDFs/DVFatalityRevue.pdf
(with regard to one Arizona study)
“…murder suicides are not spawned out of love or altruism, but out of
selfishness and a self-centered act of desperation or domestic
violence. She has found that the killings typically have been planned
over several weeks or months.”
HOPELESSNESS AND DESPAIR: DEADLY IN OLD AGE
http://www.matrixadvocare.com/V8_N9.pdf
NO MERCY
http://www.chireader.com/hottype/2002/020802_1.html
“But as the nation grays we've all been haunted, in our imaginations
if not yet our lives, by the specter of our loved ones' unassuageable
suffering. We've made it our business to comprehend that there can be
worse things than death. It might even be said that Whittington was
preaching to the choir.”
DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL
“MAN WHO SHOT WIFE IN 'MERCY KILLING' AVOIDS JAIL”
BY MICHAEL HAUN
http://www.evelynmartens.ca/en-daytona-nj-021031.html
“Leo Visco, who admitted fatally shooting his ailing wife in what he
called an act of mercy, walked out of a DeLand courtroom Wednesday
afternoon a free man. A judge, who said no punishment could truly fit
this complex case, gave the 81-year-old man a 5-year suspended prison
sentence and placed him on probation for 10 years. The sentence means
the former house painter from Deltona will avoid going to jail for the
death of his 74-year-old wife, Eva… "He had a profound depression,
feeling helpless and hopeless," she said. "She was in exquisitely
debilitating pain."
HOMICIDE-SUIDICE IN OLDER PERSONS
http://www.fmhi.usf.edu/amh/homicide-suicide/art_hs_inolder.html
(Note the tremendous complexities in these issues)
“About half of all homicide-suicides are called Dependent-Protective
Homicide-Suicides.”
“A variation is the Caregiver Dependent Homicide-Suicide, where
depression coupled with increasing isolation and multiple stresses
produces helplessness in the male caregiver and triggers the act.”
“About 30% are Aggressive Homicide-Suicides, where there is a history
of marital problems or domestic violence. This is more common in
couples in their 60's, but it does occur in older couples.”
“A third type is a Symbiotic Homicide-Suicide. This occurs in about
20% of cases. The husband and wife are usually very old and highly
interdependent on each other. Both are usually sick. The male usually
has a dominant personality and the woman is often submissive.”
I hope you find that that my research exceeds your expectations. If
you have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
Defined above
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
ELDERLY MURDER DESPERATION
ELDERLY MURDER DEPRESSION
ELDERLY MURDER PARANOIA
ELDERLY MURDER "MENTAL ILLNESS"
ELDERLY "MERCY KILLINGS"
“ELDERLY OFFENDERS” MURDER
Alternatively used the terms “homicide”, “homicidal” “killed”,
“killer”, “murdered” and “murderer” in place of the search term
“murder”
Alternatively used the terms “older adults” and “senior citizens” in
place of the search term “elderly” |
