The Importance of Motives and Means in Filicide Sentencing
--Emily Snook
Diane shot her three children.1 Angela tortured her oldest daughter to death.2 Chris
strangled his wife and infant daughter, and then drowned his two older children.3 Amanda
forced her two children off of a bridge in the middle of the night.4 Eber beat his two month old
daughter until she died.5 Derek smashed his son’s skull in.6 Christopher abused his daughter
over a period of three years, finally killing her when she was five.7
Filicide is a tragic, and fortunately rare, crime defined as the killing of a child by his or
her parent, either biological, foster, or adoptive.8 Each of the above is a case in Oregon where
the biological parent9 was charged with the death of their child. In each of these cases, the men
and women were harshly punished for their crimes. This goes against the national filicide
1
Karen McCowan, State Denies Parole to Child Killer Downs: Decision: Responses to Officials are Noted as “Less
Than Honest,” THE REGISTER-GUARD, Dec. 12, 2008, at A1.
2
Jack Moran, Death Prompts Changes: A State Report Says Human Services Will Pay Closer Attention to Abuse
Reports Involving Older Children, THE REGISTER-GUARD, Apr. 20, 2010, at A1.
3
Elizabeth Engstrom, The Trials of Christian Longo, TRUTV, http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious
_murders/family/christian_longo/index.html (last visited Apr. 12, 2011).
4
Maxine Bernstein, Mother Accused of Forcing Children Off Sellwood Bridge Pleads Not Guilty, OREGONLIVE
(June 3, 2009, 3:02 PM),http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/mother_accused_of_forcing_chil.html.
5
The Oregonian, Aloha Man Accused of Killing 2-month-old Daughter, OREGONLIVE (May 27, 2009, 4:35 PM),
http://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/index.ssf/2009/05/aloha_man_accused_of_killing_2.html.
6
Karen McCowan, Plea, Sentencing Hearing Set in Fatal Abuse of Baby, THE REGISTER-GUARD, Apr. 1, 2011, at
B1.
7
Aimee Green, Gresham Dad Pleads Guilty to Torturing his 5-Year-Old Daughter to Death, OREGONLIVE (Mar.
16, 2011, 4:53 PM), http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2011/03/gresham_dad_pleads_guilty_to_t.html.
8
Chelsea Diem & Jesenia Pizarro, Social Structure and Family Homocides, 25 J. FAM. VIOL. 521, 522 (2010). The
term “filicide” does not apply to step-parents, and therefore step-parents will not be evaluated in this Note.
9
While all of the examples used are of biological parents, it is also common for step-parents or partners of the
parent to kill the child. See David Finkelhor & Richard Ormrod, Homicides of Children and Youth, United States
Dep’t of Justice, Juvenile Justice Bulletin No. NCJ187239 (Oct. 2001), available at http://www.ncjrs.gov/
pdffiles1/ojjdp/187239.pdf (noting that parents are most likely to kill younger children, whereas teenagers and pre-
teens are more likely to be killed by acquaintances or other family members). In fact, of the seven Oregon
examples, two had accomplices that were spouses or partners. Angela McAnulty was married to Richard McAnulty,
who was the victim’s step-father. The Associated Press, Richard McAnulty Gets Prison for the Torture-Murder of
Jeanette Maples, His Teen Stepdaughter, OREGONLIVE (Apr. 5, 2011, 9:11 AM), http://www.oregonlive.com/news/
index.ssf /2011/04/richard_mcanulty_gets_prison_f.html. He plead guilty to her murder and was sentenced to 25
years to life in prison. Id. Christopher Rosillo’s girlfriend also assisted in the murder of his daughter. Green, supra
note 7.
1
statistics, which suggest that women generally receive lighter punishments than men.10 The
reason for the seeming equality of the sentences in Oregon is likely because of the incredibly
violent means men and women used to commit these crimes, and their selfish motives for doing
so.
In this Note, I will first describe the national filicidal trends regarding pre-trial, trial, and
sentencing aspects of the crime. I will also describe the national trends regarding filicide-
suicides, and two Oregon examples thereof. Then, I will examine the cases of the Oregon
women and men above to see how they compare to the national trends. The Oregon cases
chosen are five of the most recent examples of filicide in Oregon (two women and three men).
Diane Downs and Christian Longo were then added to the sample, as they are the two most
famous perpetrators of filicide in Oregon and are known even outside this state.
I. National Trends
A. Pre-Trial
Parents pose a very real and immediate threat to their children. In 2002, 65% of murder
victims under the age of 13 were killed by a family member (grandparent, parent, sibling, aunt,
etc).11 In 2004, parents were the perpetrators of 79% of the abuse suffered by children.12 In that
same year, one or both parents were responsible for 78.9% of all the child fatalities.13 Children
can, and do, suffer an enormous amount of harm at the hands of their parents. However, child
murders are quite different from typical homicides. The most common methods of killing were
very active and physical, such as beating, shaking, drowning, suffocation, strangulation and
10
See infra Part I.C.
11
Jennifer M. Collins, Lady Madonna, Children at Your Feet: The Criminal Justice System’s Romanticization of the
Parent-Child Relationship, 93 IOWA L. REV. 131, 133 (2007).
12
Id. at 164.
13
Id.
2
stabbing.14 In typical homicides, the methods are usually less directly physical, such as a
shooting, which does not require actually touching the victim.15
Even within the filicide realm murders can be further categorized, depending on whether
the murderer is the mother or the father of the victim. The manner and reasons for the filicide
differ greatly depending on whether it is the mother or the father who is the perpetrator.
Nationally, mothers who kill their children usually do so out of altruistic reasons.16 This
means that they believe what they are doing is truly in the best interests of their children, and
they are acting out of love.17 In addition, women usually murder because they feel helpless and
are afraid of either failing as a mother or of suffering abuse themselves.18 The mothers also
usually use methods which are not directly violent.19 The most common means are drowning,
suffocation, and gassing.20 Mothers are almost exclusively the perpetrators of neonaticide, the
killing of a child within the first 24 hours of life.21
Aside from the reasons and methods of the murder, maternal filicide perpetrators have
some other general commonalities as well. They are usually unemployed,22 with their most
recent source of income being the state, a parent, or a spouse.23 These women are also usually
14
Stuart Gordon, Mothers who Kill Their Children, 6 CIRCLES: BUFF. WOMEN’S J. L. & SOC. POL’Y 86, 90 (1998).
15
Id.
16
Id. at 93.
17
Id. at 94.
18
Diem & Pizarro, supra note 8, at 522.
19
Marie E. Mugavin, A Meta-Synthesis of Filicide Classification Systems: Psychological and Psychodynamic Issues
in Women Who Kill Their Children, 1 J. FORENSIC NURSING 65, 66 (2005).
20
Id.
21
Marieke Liem & Frans Koenraadt, Filicide: A Comparative Study of Maternal Versus Paternal Child Homicide,
18 CRIM. BEHAV. & MENTAL HEALTH 166, 167--68 (2008).
22
Diem & Pizarro, supra note 8, at 522.
23
Suzanne Léveillée, Jaques Marleau & Myriam Dubé, Filicide: A Comparison by Sex and Presence or Absence of
Self-Destructive Behavior, 22 J. FAM. VIOL. 287, 291 (2007).
3
victims of abuse themselves.24 Finally, women who kill their children are far more likely than
men to be suffering from a recognized mental illness.25
Fathers, on the other hand, use quite different means to kill their children. Fathers’
motive is usually to punish another person.26 This can be punishment against the child himself,
or against the mother of the child.27 Fathers are also far more likely to be perpetrators of murder
where the child dies as a result of fatal abuse or neglect.28 Fathers prefer to use more direct and
violent means to kill their children, such as striking, squeezing, or stabbing29 and are far more
likely to use a weapon to assist with the murder than women.30 They are more likely than the
mothers to be employed,31 but are far less likely to have a mental illness diagnosis.32 The fathers
are usually older than the mothers, andaere more commonly the perpetrators of filicide of older
children.33 Fathers are also far more likely to attempt or commit suicide after the offense,34 but
this will be discussed in further detail in Section D below.
In summary, filicidal mothers are usually viewed as helpless, fearful and possibly insane.
They are usually committing these acts out of love for their children, instead of anger or revenge.
Fathers, on the other hand, are usually aggressive murderers. They commit these murders to
punish those around them or as a part of systematic abuse and neglect of their children. These
generalities play an important role in how the court views the perpetrators once the acts have
been committed.
24
Diem & Pizarro, supra note 8, at 522.
25
Liem & Koenraadt, supra note 21, at 168.
26
Léveillée, Marleau & Dubé, supra note 23, at 288.
27
Id.
28
Id.
29
Mugavin, supra note 19, at 66.
30
Liem & Koenraadt, supra note 21, at 169.
31
Léveillée, Marleau & Dubé, supra note 23, at 291.
32
Id. at 288.
33
Liem & Koenraadt, supra note 21, at 168.
34
Id.
4
B. Trial
Men’s means and motives for committing filicide seem to mirror what the judicial system
has come to expect of them. Men commit a majority of the violent crimes in this nation,35 and so
both the public and the legal system appear to be unsurprised when men kill their children. Men,
who are viewed by both society and the legal system as being violent and dangerous, usually
receive harsh sentences in order to deter them from further acts of violence.36 The public rarely
takes notice of men who kill their children, with only short and fleeting news stories being
devoted to these horrible crimes.37 The courts, both judges and juries, consider murder to be a
reprehensible act, and punish the men accordingly. It is rare for any factors to be investigated
which would mitigate a man’s sentence, such as any mental health problems he may be having.38
While the exact sentences are still quite case-specific, for men, being charged with filicide is a
simple charge and lock-away transaction.
Women are a completely different story. The legal system has a desire to explain away
female aggression.39 The prevailing view seems to be that mothers love their children
immensely, and the purpose of a mother is to nurture her children, not destroy them.40 This leads
to two primary assumptions: 1) the mother had to have been sick or insane when she killed her
child(ren), for no sane mother would do such a thing,41 and 2) when she realizes what she has
35
Joseph E. Logan, et al., Characteristics of Perpetrators in Homicide-Followed-by-Suicide Incidents: National
Violent Death Reporting System—17 US States, 2003--2005, 168 AM. J. EPIDEMIOLOGY 1056, 1058 (2008) (noting
that men committed 78.2% of suicides, 89.7% of homicides, and 92.1% of homicide-suicides).
36
Heather Leigh Stangle, Murderous Madonna: Femininity, Violence, and the Myth of Postpartum Mental Disorder
in Cases of Maternal Infanticide and Filicide, 50 WM. & MARY L. REV. 699, 701 (2008).
37
Elizabeth Rapaport, Mad Women and Desperate Girls: Infanticide and Child Murder in Law and Myth, 33
FORDHAM URB. L. J. 527, 544 (2006).
38
Id. at 528.
39
Stangle, supra note 36, at 701.
40
Id. at 708.
41
Id. (“[F]or a mother to kill her babies so goes against nature that she should be assumed to be doing it out of
insanity.”) (citation omitted).
5
done, the mere knowledge that she killed her child(ren) will be punishment enough for her.42
The legal system also seems to take the view that since these women acted out of love,
imprisoning them for their crimes would serve no deterrent effect.43 Obviously, a mother who
loves her children will continue to act out of that love no matter what punishment she has
received in the past. So, it is almost pointless to punish filicidal mothers.44
Women also benefit from statutes and mental health diagnoses which help explain away
only female behavior. Specifically, postpartum disorder (depression and psychosis) and battered
women’s syndrome are available as defenses to women who are charged with filicide.45 Such
defenses are not available to men. Even with the availability of these defenses, it remains
extremely difficult to prove insanity if it is used as a defense to murder.46 Most filicidal mothers
are not considered legally insane, even by the standards of the most liberal jurisdictions in the
United States.47 However, judges and juries will still reduce the sentences of mothers charged
with filicide, so long as they consider her to be a good mother.
The “good mother defense,” as it is called, is an interesting (and surprisingly successful)
tactic. The purpose of this defense is to play on society’s inclinations that a mother has to be
insane in order to kill her children. The defense sets out to prove that the mother on trial was a
good, kind, loving mother who truly cared for her children. Even if the defense cannot prove
that the mother is insane in the eyes of the law, this tactic still results in the mother receiving
some leniency from the jury or judge. If they believe that she was truly a good mother, then they
cannot believe that she intentionally and maliciously killed her children. Instead, they must
42
Collins, supra note 11, at 162.
43
Abigail Wong, Filicide and Mothers who Suffer from Postpartum Mental Disorders, 10 MICH. ST. U. MED. & L.
571, 586 (2006).
44
Sentencing will be discussed further in Part I.B., infra.
45
Stangle, supra note 36, at 716.
46
Phillip Resnick, The Andrea Yates Case: Insanity on Trial, 55 CLEV. ST. L. REV. 147, 153--54 (2007) (Noting that
Americans are highly skeptical of insanity defenses, and they are used in less than one percent of felony cases).
47
Rapaport, supra note 37, at 537--38.
6
believe that she was suffering from some illness at the time the murder was committed, and so
her actions should be excused.48 So long as the defense can sway the judge or jury into believing
that the mother on trial was a good mother, the guilty mother will still receive some leniency.
In general, filicidal fathers are viewed as violent men who should be punished harshly for
their crimes. Women, on the other hand, receive leniency because society prefers to believe that
all mothers must love their children without fail. So, if those mothers kill their children, it must
be due to some mental imbalance. Society does not want to think, and refuses to believe, that
mothers are capable of being evil and violent.49 Violence does not agree with what society views
as feminine, so society and the courts prefer to explain this phenomena away as being abnormal
and insane, instead of being wrong and punishable.
C. Sentencing
Given all of the above information, it should come as no surprise that men receive
consistently harsher penalties than women.50 Men are usually given longer sentences than
women, and women are usually allowed to complete their sentences in lower-security facilities
than men.51 While the punishment of the death penalty is rare in general, filicidal mothers are
particularly unlikely to receive the death penalty for their actions.52 This is due to the above-
mentioned mindset of the judge and juries: women do not kill children, so if they do kill children
then they must be insane. While men do not benefit from of any such assumptions, men and
48
Id. at 557-59. She gives examples of mothers who killed their children, Andrea Yates and Darlie Rouiter. In the
case of Yates, the defense was able to show that she was a good, loving mother, despite the fact that she drowned
her children. Yates drowned each of her 5 children in a bathtub because she believed they would be damned if they
made it to adulthood. She received a lighter sentence because she was a loving mother. Routier, on the other hand,
was portrayed as selfish, slutty, and a bad mother who cursed at her children. Routier received a harsher sentence.
Id. at 559--69.
49
Women are incredibly capable of violence, and should almost certainly be punished for their actions. See
examples in Part II.A., infra.
50
Stangle, supra note 36, at 710.
51
Id.
52
Id. at 710--11.
7
women both benefit from the tendency of society to be more lenient towards parents who harm
their children.53 Strangers who kill children receive far harsher punishments than parents.54
Women simply get a double benefit, that of being a parent who harmed their child, and of being
a mother as well.
Finally, mothers who commit infanticide (killing of a child in the first year of life), are
rarely punished for their actions. Currently in the United States, it is extremely unlikely that a
woman accused of infanticide will even be convicted, and if she is, it is even more unlikely that
she will be imprisoned for her actions.55 Instead, she will be put on probation, or released with
time served.56 Canada and England have taken this general tendency one step further. Both of
these countries have Infanticide Acts.57 These acts do not require a woman who is accused of
killing her child, who is less than 1 year old, to prove that she was mentally ill or insane.58
Instead, the law simply assumes that these mothers are mentally ill, and grants them leniency
because of this.59 The reasoning behind these acts is that women are still suffering the effects of
pregnancy during the first year of their child’s life.60 Therefore, any extreme actions taken this
time are excusable as being caused by a mental imbalance.61 However, this reasoning has little
basis in fact. While some form of postpartum depression is rather common, depression does not
cause homicidal tendencies.62 The only post-partum disorder that could possibly cause a woman
to murder her children is postpartum psychosis, and this is extremely rare.63 This is certainly not
53
Collins, supra note 11, at 144.
54
Id.
55
Stangle, supra note 36, at 730.
56
Id.
57
Id. at 717.
58
Id. at 718.
59
Id.
60
Id.
61
Id.
62
Id. at 720.
63
Id.
8
an excuse that should be automatically given to all women who kill their children. In fact,
women have killed their children for a variety of reasons, including societal pressures, monetary
issues, and general desperation.64 Each case of filicide should be examined by the legal system,
and each individual mother should be punished appropriately for her actions. A blanket decrease
of sentencing for women is simply not the best way to handle the issue.
In summary, filicidal men are given harsh sentences which punish them for their crimes.
Women are given much lighter sentences. This complies with the prevailing view that women
who kill their children are violating the natural order, and so must be insane. In addition,
prosecutors are extremely unlikely to prosecute women for infanticide, and are even less likely to
request harsh sentences if those women are convicted. While these seem to be the general
trends, there are women who kill their children in horrible ways and out of motives which can
best be described as selfish. These women are given harsh punishments to accompany their
terrible crimes which are comparable to the male punishments. In fact, all of the Oregon
examples below will fit this trend. This seems to suggest that, while women may generally be
given lighter sentences, juries are certainly capable of determining which crimes deserve harsh
punishments and which do not.
D. The Possibility of Suicide
A number of filicides are never prosecuted because the perpetrator commits suicide
directly after the act. In a study of homicide-suicide incidents in 17 states from 2003-2005, it
was found that men were responsible for an overwhelming majority of these incidents, at about
91%.65 However, when filicide-suicides are separated out, it is more difficult to obtain exact
statistics. Men are far more likely to attempt or succeed in committing suicide after a violent
64
Id. at 719--20.
65
Logan, et al., supra note 35, at 1056.
9
incident than women.66 However, studies conflict about suicide and gender when it comes to
filicide. In the above study, 33 filicide-suicide incidents occurred, and of those 33 women
committed 17 of the offenses.67 However, men were responsible for 373 homicide-suicides total,
while women were responsible for only 35.68 This means that filicide-suicides made up about
half of the female homicide-suicides, while the filicide-suicides were only about 4% of the male
homicide-suicides.69 This indicates that men are more likely, in general, to commit homicide-
suicide than women. However, if a woman commits homicide-suicide there is a 50% chance that
her victim is her child.
Yet, studies from Western Australia and Quebec, Canada found that men were more
likely than women to attempt suicide following filicide.70 In the Australian study, seven cases of
family homicide were studied, and in each of the cases children were the only victims and men
were the only perpetrators.71 In all of these cases the men attempted suicide, and succeeded in
all but one instance.72 However, it was noted that these instances were not typical, as usually the
men would kill their partners (or ex-partners) as well, which did not happen in any of these
cases.73 The Canadian study was far more extensive. It evaluated all instances of filicide in
Quebec from 1986 to 1994.74 In these cases, 20-53% of the women considered or attempted
66
Id.
67
Id. at 1057.
68
Id. at 1059.
69
Id.
70
See Carolyn Harris Johnson, Familicide and Family Law: A Study of Filicide-Suicide Following Separation, 44
FAM. CT. REV. 448 (2006); Léveillée, Marleau & Dubé, supra note 22.
71
Johnson, supra note 70, at 448.
72
Id.
73
Id.
74
Léveillée, supra note 23, at 287.
10
suicide after their act.75 Men, on the other hand, had a much higher percentage than women.
About 60% of the men attempted suicide after their act.76
Given these studies, it is difficult to see exactly what trends are present in filicide-suicide.
It is certain that men are far more likely, in general, to commit or attempt suicide after a violent
act. Oregon seems to be following this general trend. Two recent filicide-suicide cases both had
men as perpetrators, although in one case it appeared that the parents (mother and father)
committed the act together.
The first example is that of James. James shot and killed his two children, ages 6 and 7,
before turning the gun on himself.77 The police reported that he was unemployed and undergoing
financial difficulties at the time he committed the act.78 Also, he was known to suffer from
emotional problems, and may have been having some mental health issues as well.79 He was
divorced from the children’s mother and a custody agreement was in place.80 He killed the
children during their allotted time with him.81 This appears to fit into the national trends – a man
who uses a gun to kill his children and then himself, who was undergoing financial difficulties.
It does not fit perfectly, however, as James was unemployed at the time he committed the act.
Also, since his motive is not known, it is difficult to determine if James was killing for one of the
two primary reasons that men seem to commit filicide: out of abuse or in retaliation. Since he
and his wife were divorced, it is possible that it was out of retaliation. However, there is no
evidence of this or any other motive. Therefore, all that can be said is that James was a man
75
Id. at 288. Rates of successful suicides are not available.
76
Id. Rates of successful suicides are not available.
77
The Oregonian, Hillsboro Man Who Killed Children, Self Had Emotional Problems, Police Say, OREGONLIVE
(May 30, 2009, 10:12 PM), http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/father_killed_his_children_
dur.html.
78
Id.
79
Id.
80
Id.
81
Id.
11
going through some troubled times who decided to kill his two children with a handgun.
Unfortunately, it is precisely this statement that the national trends appear to support. Men who
become frustrated with their lives often take it out on the people close to them, including their
children.
The second example is a little more complicated in how it compares to the national
trends. John and Luray were found dead in their home, along with their 5 year old daughter.82
It appears that this was an intentional murder-suicide on the part of John and Luray.83 The room
that they were found in had been sealed off, and duct-work connected the exhaust of a car
outside to the room.84 All three died of carbon-monoxide poisoning.85 While the exact motive
is unknown, the police were able to determine that Luray was recently diagnosed with stage-4
breast cancer.86 Neither she nor John had health insurance, and the diagnosis seemed to be
crushing to the family.87 It is possible that they decided to kill themselves and their daughter,
both because John and Luray could not live without each other, and because they did not think
that their daughter should be forced to live with the knowledge that her parents killed
themselves. If this is the case, that would be considered an altruistic motive, and would be the
precise thinking that tends to dominate maternal filicide. However, all of that is simply
speculation, as it is difficult to know what the exact motive was in this case. What is known is
that John and Luray killed themselves and their daughter in a non-violent manner (carbon
monoxide poisoning). This means of committing the crime aligns with maternal homicide. This
82
Noelle Crombie, Portland Family of Three Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide, OREGONLIVE (Sept. 7, 2007, 5:12
PM), http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/09/portland_police_family_of_thre.html.
83
Id.
84
Id.
85
Id.
86
Id.
87
Id.
12
does not indicate that Luray was the primary perpetrator of this crime. Instead, it is just a note
that men tend to kill in more violent manners than women.
II. The Oregon Examples
The Oregon perpetrators of maternal filicide described below seem to buck the national
trends. The three women described received extremely harsh “male” sentences. They also killed
out of selfish motives, as a result of fatal child abuse, and revenge. These three motives are
usually found in male killers. Two of the women also used typically male means to kill their
children: shooting and abuse. However, one woman killed her child using drowning, a typically
female method. The men described all killed out of selfish motives, or as a result of fatal child
abuse or neglect. Most did not suffer from any mental illnesses, and were simply charged,
convicted, and sentenced, all of which would be expected given the national trends.
In this section we will walk through each Oregon example to see how it compares to the
national trends. We will first evaluate the Oregon women: Diane Downs, Angela McAnulty, and
Amanda Jo Stott-Smith. We will then turn to the Oregon men: Christian Longo, Eber Gramajo,
Derek Jackson, and Christopher Rosillo. These examples were chosen by selecting five of the
most recent filicides in the state (Angela, Amanda, Eber, Derek, and Christopher) and then
adding in the two most famous perpetrators of filicide in Oregon: Diane and Christian. It is
important to remember that this sample size is quite small, and is not nearly large enough to base
major claims on. However, it does show how juries and judges look at each case individually,
instead of giving blanket leniency to one gender.
13
A. The Oregon Women
1. Diane Downs
Diane Downs is probably the most famous perpetrator of filicide in Oregon. This is
likely because of her need for the limelight, and her horrible story. Elizabeth Diane Downs (her
full name) was charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder, and two counts of first-
degree assault on February 28, 1984.88 These charges were based on her shooting of her three
children.89 One of her children, Cheryl, died, but her two other children, Danny and Christie,
survived with permanent injuries.90 The incident happened on May 19, 1983.91 On that night,
Diane Downs shot her three children while they lay in her car; she then shot herself in her left
forearm and drove to the hospital.92 At the hospital, Diane maintained that a man had flagged
down her car and shot herself and her three children.93 She repeated this story often to officers
and the media, but it could not be substantiated.94 Officers later discovered Diane’s diary, where
she wrote of the love that she had for a man in Arizona, with whom she previously had been
involved in an affair.95 At trial, the prosecution presented the motive that Diane killed her
children so that she could be with this man, unencumbered.96 Also at trial, Diane’s oldest
daughter, Christie, had recovered enough from her injuries to testify that it was her mother who
had shot her.97
88
Indictment at 2, Oregon v. Downs, Lane County, No. 10-84-01377 (Circuit Court Feb. 28, 1984).
89
Id. at 1-2.
90
Joseph Geringer, Diane Downs: Her Children Got in the Way of Her Love, TRUTV, http://www.trutv.com/library/
crime/notorious_murders/famous/downs/index_1.html, at Ch. 1 (last visited Mar. 12, 2011).
91
Indictment, supra note 88, at 1--2.
92
Shawn Dooley, The Diane Downs Story: 1983 Murder Case Focuses on Mom, ABC 20/20 Page 1 (May 12,
2010), http://abcnews.go.com/2020/diane-downs-mother-shoots-children/story?id=10615736&page=1 at Page 1.
93
Id.
94
Id. at Page 2.
95
Geringer, supra note 90 at Ch. 7.
96
Id. at Ch. 13.
97
Id. at Ch. 14.
14
Diane Downs’ backstory does not shed much light on her crime. She grew up in a
conservative home in Arizona.98 She has said that her father sexually abused her for some time
when she was younger, but he stopped by the time she became a teenager.99 She became
extremely interested in boys, and eventually married Steve Downs, her high school
sweetheart.100 The relationship did not appear to be a happy one, however, and she left Steve
several times before filing for divorce.101 During this time she also began working, and would
frequently leave her children with babysitters so that she could go out with friends when she was
not at work as a postal worker.102 When writing about Diane’s life, authors usually portray this
period as the time when Diane stopped trying to be a good mother, and instead began passing off
her duties on others.103 During this time, Diane also began being quite promiscuous, with her ex-
husband Steve saying later that she had slept around while they were still married.104 In fact,
Danny was not Steve’s child.105 It was also during this time that Diane met a married man that
she fell in love with.106 When this man ended the relationship, Diane was devastated.107 She
could not handle being near this man any longer, so she packed up her life and her children and
moved to Oregon.108 Diane maintained feelings for this man throughout her time in Oregon, and
he is the reason that she decided to kill her children.
After Diane shot her children, and she became aware that the police were not accepting
her story that a stranger was the perpetrator, she did something quite unusual. Her actions are
98
Id. at Ch. 9.
99
Id.
100
Id.
101
Id. at Ch. 10.
102
Id.
103
Id.
104
Id.
105
Id.
106
Id.
107
Id.
108
Id.
15
exceptionally odd considering that she was accused of killing her children so that she did not
have to deal with them anymore. Diane intentionally got pregnant.109 She apparently seduced a
man who lived on her postal route.110 She claimed that since her children had been taken from
her, one by death and the rest by the state, that she missed the love that the children gave her and
the way they made her feel, so she simply became pregnant.111 She was pregnant all through the
trial, and gave birth shortly after the verdict came in.112
At the end of the trial, Diane Downs was found guilty of one count of murder, and two
counts of attempted murder.113 Before sentencing, she was evaluated for a mental disorder,
because the prosecution suspected she was suffering from a severe personality disorder.114 This
did not get her any leniency with the court, however. When Diane was sentenced a short time
later, she received life in prison for the murder count, 15 years to 30 years for one count of
attempted murder, and 10 to 20 years for the second count of attempted murder.115 To further
increase the sensationalism of this story, Diane escaped from prison in 1987.116 She was found
later at the home of a fellow inmate’s husband.117 She has since been moved to a more secure
prison.118 She has been up for parole several times since she was sentenced, and has yet to be
released.119
Diane’s punishment was severe, and therefore does not fit the typical female punishment.
However, her severe sentence can be explained since her means and motive for killing were not
109
Dooley, supra note 92, at Page 3.
110
Id.
111
Id.
112
Id.
113
Sentence Order at 1--2, Oregon v. Downs, Lane County, No. 10-84-01377 (Circuit Court Aug. 28, 1984).
114
Affidavit of Frederick A. Hugi, Oregon v. Downs, Lane County No. 10-84-10377 (Circuit Court June 25, 1984).
This appears to have been requested by the prosecution so they could determine what type of facility would be best
for Diane to serve her sentence in.
115
Sentence Order, supra note 113.
116
Dooley, supra note 92, at Page 3.
117
Id.
118
Id.
119
Id.
16
typically female. First, Diane killed in a very violent and male manner – she shot each of her
children with a handgun. Second, her reasons for killing were not altruistic; she did not try to
kill her children out of love or care. Rather, Diane’s motive was purely selfish: she wanted to get
back together with the man who had rejected her, and she thought that being without children
would improve her chances of winning him back. While “selfishness” is not a typical male
motive, it is most certainly not the altruistic, loving, female motive that the courts tend to give
leniency to.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Diane failed miserably at painting herself as a
good mother. Stories surfaced that she had cheated on her husband, left her children with anyone
who could care for them, and did not love her children as she should have. In fact, a babysitter
of Diane’s had a story that Cheryl, the child that Diane killed, was jumping on the bed, and so
the babysitter had put her into a time-out to think about what she had done.120 At the end of the
time-out, Cheryl had asked the babysitter for a gun, which the sitter did not have.121 Cheryl
stated that she wanted to shoot herself, because her mother had told her that she was bad.122
Stories such as these would not cause the jury to sympathize with Diane, and to understand
where her frustration with her children came from. Instead, these understandably led the jury to
condemn Diane as being evil, and a bad mother.
While Diane was suspected of having mental health problems, this did not seem to play a
major role in her trial. Therefore, she fits the national trend of a maternal filicide perpetrator in
that she has mental health issues. While this would normally cause the jury to be sympathetic to
the mother, that did not happen in Diane’s case. In addition, Diane also claims to have suffered
abuse at the hands of her father when she was a child. Most perpetrators of maternal filicide are
120
Geringer, supra note 90, at Ch. 10.
121
Id.
122
Id.
17
abuse victims themselves, so this does fit the national trend. However, this also failed to make
the jury sympathetic to her plight. Instead, Diane was condemned as a selfish person, a whore,
and a horrible mother, who killed her children simply because they were inconvenient. She then
had the audacity to intentionally create another child to replace the one that she had killed.
Given all of the above, the jury was able to wade through all of the facts and determine
that Diane was culpable for her actions, and punished her strongly for doing so. Juries and
judges are normally distracted by factors which cause the mothers to be sympathetic, but for
Diane, the jury was able to see through all of that and determine what Diane really was. The jury
strongly condemned Diane for her actions. At the time that Diane was tried, Oregon did not
have a death penalty.123 This worked in Diane’s favor, but Angela McAnulty was not so lucky.
2. Angela McAnulty
Diane Downs may be the most famous perpetrator of maternal filicide in Oregon, but in
recent months Angela McAnulty has taken over in the media. She is a sinister woman who
systematically tortured her daughter, Jeanette, until she died at the age of 15.124 On the morning
of December 9, 2009, Angela was unable to wake Jeanette, and her body was cold to the
touch.125 However, instead of calling for help, Angela proceeded to try and clean the house.126
Medics were finally alerted to the situation that afternoon.127 At the time of her death, Jeanette
123
Id. at Ch. 15.
124
Karen McCowan, Teen’s Life of Abuse Detailed to Jurors: Angela McAnulty’s Sentencing Phase Includes Videos
of Her Interviews With Officers, THE REGISTER-GUARD (Feb. 12, 2011, 5:01 AM), http://www.registerguard.com/
csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/25880693-41/mcanulty-jeanette-daughter-videotape-detectives.csp.
125
Id.
126
Id.
127
Id.
18
weighed about 50 lbs.128 Her body was so battered, with literally hundreds of injuries to her, that
the medical examiner was unable to determine a single cause of death.129
Jeanette suffered years of systematic abuse and torture at the hands of her mother.130
Angela had two younger children in the home, but only Jeanette was singled out to receive the
harsh punishments.131 Angela frequently beat Jeanette with different objects.132 She forced
Jeanette to sleep on the floor on a piece of cardboard, so that her open wounds would not bleed
onto the carpet.133 Angela withheld food and water from her.134 The cabinets in the kitchen
were locked, and only Angela had a key.135 While the rest of the family sat down to a full
Thanksgiving dinner, Jeanette was lucky to be eating a peanut butter sandwich.136 Jeanette was
also forced to drink out of a toilet.137 During police interviews, Angela said that this was
because she did not want Jeanette getting up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water.138
So, while the family slept, Jeanette would drag her bloody body over to the toilet in order to
hydrate herself.
This was an incredibly horrific crime, but Angela presented evidence at her sentencing
that she did not simply wake up one day and decide to punish her daughter. Instead, she argued
that she was raised this way.139 Angela’s mother was killed when she was just 5 years old.140
128
Jack Moran, Family, Neighbors Shed Light on Murder Case: A Stepgrandmother and Others Reveal Sad,
Disturbing Details About the Life and Death of 15-year-old Jeanette Maples, THE REGISTER-GUARD, Dec. 22, 2009
at A7.
129
McCowan, supra note 124.
130
Id.
131
Id.
132
Id.
133
Id.
134
Id.
135
Id.
136
Id.
137
Id.
138
Id.
139
Karen McCowan, Brothers Describe Childhood Horrors: Angela McAnulty’s Mother was Killed, Her Father was
Abusive, THE REGISTER-GUARD (Feb. 26, 2011, 12:11 AM), http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/
cityregion/25921842-41/mcanulty-feusi-tuesday-angela-death.csp.
19
Her mother had fled from a violent and abusive relationship with Angela’s father, and was living
with the children in a hotel.141 She was found with numerous stab wounds, but the police were
never able to catch the perpetrator.142 After their mother’s death, the children were given back to
their father, who re-married.143 At his hands, Angela appears to have observed much of the same
abuse that she heaped upon Jeanette.144 Food was restricted, and the children (Angela, her
siblings, and her step-siblings) had to eat what little they were given silently around the kitchen
table so as not to disturb the adults.145 Her father would frequently beat the children for any
infraction, usually with some kind of instrument, such as a belt or screwdriver.146 Her brothers
testified that they were the main targets of the abuse in the house.147 Apparently, the girls were
given lighter treatment than the boys.148
Angela plead guilty to the murder of her daughter on February 1, 2011.149 At the
sentencing hearing, all of the above evidence was heard. The prosecution advocated for the
death penalty, saying that a harsher punishment should be given to Angela because she was the
mother of the victim.150 The prosecution not only argued that this should not be a mitigating
factor, they maintained that this should increase Angela’s culpability as Jeanette was not able to
take comfort in the thought that her mother would come rescue her, like she could have if a
140
Id.
141
Id.
142
Id.
143
Id.
144
Id.
145
Id.
146
Id.
147
Id.
148
Id.
149
Karen McCowan, Child Killer Gets Death: Angela McAnulty is Sentenced to be Executed for the Torture Murder
of Her 15-year-old Daughter, Jeanette, THE REGISTER-GUARD (Feb. 25, 2011, 5:02 AM), http://www.registerguard.
com/ csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/25931485-41/death-mcanulty-jurors-jeanette-oregon.csp.
150
Id.
20
stranger was the perpetrator.151 It took the jury just 6 hours to come back with the death
penalty.152
It is extremely rare for a woman to commit the type of crime that Angela McAnulty
committed. Women do not kill their children as a result of fatal child abuse; that is a realm that
is left mostly for men. It is not known why Angela decided that out of all of her children,
Jeanette was the sole person who had to be punished. While her other children likely did not
lead happy lives, they were not subject to the extensive abuse and torture that Jeanette suffered.
Angela’s husband, who is currently facing charges as well, has stated that Angela ruled the
house. She had hit him in the past, and he had to ask her permission to use the restroom, as she
kept that door locked and carried the only key.153 It is not known how Angela treated her other
children, but given all of the above it is difficult to imagine that those children are happy and
well-adjusted.
Angela’s means of killing was also a typically male means. Jeanette died as a result of
systematic neglect, abuse, and maltreatment: she had numerous injuries all over her body, and
she was severely deprived of nutrition. This was incredibly directly violent, it involved Angela
beating Jeanette while also inflicting other punishments on her, such as forcing Jeanette to hold
uncomfortable positions for hours at a time and depriving her of food.154 Women usually kill in
less directly violent means, so Angela defies that trend as well.
151
Id. Also, in my opinion, whether the perpetrator is the parent of the victim or not should play almost no role in
the judicial system. While parents are supposed to love their children, not all of them do. Society does not require a
“love test” when determining if a person is a fit parent. All that matters is whether that parent is capable of keeping
the child safe, clean, and fed. In this case, all that should matter is that Angela did atrocious things to a child. The
fact that the victim was a child should certainly increase the sentence, but the fact that the parent was the perpetrator
should not matter.
152
Id.
153
McCowan, supra note 124.
154
Id.
21
All of this information led the jury to correctly conclude that Angela was a terrible and
horrific human being who tortured and killed her child. As stated above, the defense did provide
evidence explaining how Angela became this monster, but the jury was not swayed into
providing leniency. The jury had the option of deciding that Angela had led a difficult enough
life living through the abuse heaped upon the children in her father’s home, and they could have
reduced her sentence. Also, some juries believe that a mother will be punished by the mere
knowledge that she caused her child’s death, and so provide leniency in those cases. This jury
instead determined that Angela deserved the ultimate penalty, and sentenced her to death.
3. Amanda Jo Stott-Smith
Amanda’s case was not nearly as high-profile as Diane and Angela’s, but it was equally
as tragic. In the extremely early hours of May 23, 2009, Amanda forced her two young children
off of a bridge.155 Neighbors were awoken by screams, and police were called.156 A search
ensued, but since it was so dark, and no one was sure what they were searching for, nothing was
found.157 A couple living in a houseboat heard splashes and screams, and stepped outside to find
Amanda’s 7 year old daughter, Trinity, and 4 year old son, Eldon, in the water. The couple tried
to rescue the children, and they were able to pull them both out of the water, but it was too late
for Eldon.158 By the time the couple met police on shore, he was dead.159 Trinity survived.160
Police had been receiving calls from Amanda’s parents and ex-husband during the course
of their search.161 Her parents were reporting her as missing, since she did not bring the children
155
John Killen, Police Release Timeline in the Amanda Jo Stott-Smith Case, OREGONLIVE (June 3, 2009, 9:50 PM),
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/police_release_time_line_in_th.html.
156
Id.
157
Id.
158
Id.
159
Id.
160
Id.
161
Id.
22
home after an outing to see fireworks.162 Her ex-husband had spoken to her on the phone, and
their conversation had led him to be very concerned about the well-being of his children, so he
contacted the police.163 After the children were on shore, the police continued to search the
water, as they were not sure if the children were in the water because of a boating accident, or for
some other reason.164 Eventually, the police were able to piece together that they were looking
for Amanda, and that she had somehow caused her children to be in the water.165 The police
caught up with her in a parking garage in downtown Portland.166 She attempted to commit
suicide by jumping off of the parking garage, but an officer caught her before she could begin
falling.167
On June 2, 2009, Amanda was charged with aggravated murder, attempted murder, and
assault.168 In May of 2010, she plead guilty to aggravated murder and attempted murder.169 As a
part of a plea deal, she received a sentence of 30 years to life for the aggravated murder, and a
consecutive sentence of 5 years for attempted murder.170
Not much is known about Amanda’s life before the murder. She does have an older
child, Gavin, who was 13 years old at the time she was sentenced.171 Gavin has a different father
than Trinity and Eldon.172 Originally, he was supposed to accompany his mother and half-
162
Id.
163
Id.
164
Id.
165
Id.
166
Id.
167
Id.
168
Indictment for Violation of ORS 163.095 (1,2,3,4,5), ORS 163.095 (6,7), ORS 163.175 (8) at 1--2, Oregon v.
Stott-Smith, Multnomah County Court No. 09-05-32063 (Circuit Court June 2, 2009).
169
Maxine Bernstein, Amanda Jo Stott-Smith Sentenced for Dropping Her Children off the Sellwood Bridge,
OREGONLIVE (Apr. 22, 2010, 8:58 PM), http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/04/amanda_stott-
smith_sentenced_f.html.
170
Judgment of Conviction and Sentence at 1--4, State v. Stott-Smith, Multnomah County Court No. 09-05-32063
(Circuit Court Oct. 11, 2010).
171
Bernstein, supra note 169.
172
Id.
23
siblings on their trip, but decided not to go.173 Amanda had also been recently divorced from her
husband, Jason, the father of Trinity and Eldon.174 Jason had been granted temporary custody of
the two children.175 A dispute about continuing custody was still active in the courts at the time
of the murder.176 Amanda told police that the reason she had tried to kill her two children was as
an act of revenge against their father.177 She assumed that he had a new girlfriend, and wanted to
punish him for that.178
One aspect of Amanda’s crime aligns perfectly with the typical maternal filicide trends.
Amanda chose drowning as the method of death for her two children. This is fairly typical of
female perpetrators, as it is not a directly violent means. It required very little action on the part
of Amanda. Rather, after the initial action of forcing her children off the bridge, she simply had
to do nothing in order for the act to be carried to completion. However, that seems to be the sole
aspect that follows the national trends for maternal filicide. The rest of Amanda’s crime appears
to be decidedly male.
To begin, Amanda decided to commit this crime as an act of revenge against the
children’s father. It is quite rare for a mother to have this motive for killing. Usually, it is the
fathers who use the children as weapons against their mothers. In this case, Amanda assumed
that her ex-husband had a new girlfriend and he had obtained temporary full custody of the
children, and so wanted to get revenge against him. Therefore, she used the children against
him. This train of thought is rarely used by women to justify their killings, and certainly makes
Amanda buck the national trends.
173
Id.
174
Id.
175
Id.
176
Id.
177
Id.
178
Id.
24
In addition, Amanda tried to kill herself after she forced her children into the water. It is
certain that men are more likely than women to kill themselves after a homicide, although
statistics conflict on whether there are any gender differences in the tendencies for suicide after a
filicide. Therefore, this indicator cannot be termed either typically male or typically female.
Also, while women are far more likely than men to suffer some kind of psychiatric or
psychological disorder when they commit filicide, there were no indications that Amanda had
any such problems. However, there was not any sort of trial or hearing where this type of
information would have come out, as she plead guilty and accepted a deal.
Finally, we cannot know whether Amanda was considered a good mother and would have
been able to obtain some leniency. She chose not to try and defend her crime; instead she simply
admitted to what she had done. Her parents have not spoken about their daughter or her
parenting ability, and her ex-husband has remained silent on this issue as well. However, it is
telling that he was granted temporary custody of the children as the custody dispute was
resolved.
We can speculate about how Amanda would have fared with this defense in front of a
jury. She would likely not have fared well. A jury is sympathetic to mothers who spend their
time loving and caring for their children, and who then kill their children because of some mental
illness or twisted sense that they are doing it out of love. Amanda did none of those. Prior to her
terrible crime, she was only allowed to see her children every other weekend, so she was not the
full-time doting mother that juries understand. She killed her children in order to punish her ex-
husband, not because she thought the children would be better off if they were dead. Finally,
there is no indication that she was suffering from any mental illnesses at the time that she
25
committed the acts. Therefore, it is unlikely that Amanda would have been viewed as a good
mother, and it is even more unlikely that the jury would have been sympathetic to her actions.
Amanda was eventually sentenced to a total of 35 years to life in prison for her crimes.
While this sentence is not nearly as harsh as those received by Diane and Angela, it is certainly
not a light or lenient sentence. Typically lenient sentences received are ones that are relatively
short and to be served in a mental hospital or other minimum-security facility or mothers being
released with continued probation. Amanda is neither of those.
• • • • •
The Oregon women seem to ignore the national trends. None of them killed their
children out of altruistic reasons; instead they all had typically male motives.179 Only one of the
women used an indirectly violent, and therefore typically female, means to kill.180 The other two
used incredibly direct and violent means to carry out their crimes.181
None of the three Oregon women could be viewed as good mothers, and none of them
were in the position to successfully claim insanity as an excuse for their actions. Diane is the
one who had the most opportunity to try and take advantage of her probable mental health
problems, but this did not seem to garner her any sympathy with the jury.
However, both Diane and Angela fit into the national mold as being victims of abuse
themselves in the past. This seems to be the only area wherein more than one of the women
actually follow the national trends. Nevertheless, while these women’s lives were far more
difficult than they should have been, it was certainly not enough to excuse their actions.
179
Diane killed out of selfish reasons, Angela as a result of fatal child abuse, and Amanda as retaliation.
180
Amanda drowned her children, which is considered to be an indirectly violent means of committing murder.
181
Diane shot her children. Angela beat Jeanette so severely that the officers could actually see the outlines of the
pictures that used to hang on the wall in the blood spatter. See McCowan, supra note 124.
26
In addition, all three women received harsh sentences for their actions. Given the above
information, this is not surprising. Usually, the reason that women receive lighter sentences is
because they are viewed as generally good mothers who simply became overwhelmed or were
mentally ill, and therefore their actions, while tragic, are understandable. None of the Oregon
women were perceived in this light. They were all rightfully viewed as horrible women who
killed their children for selfish reasons. Since they had typically male means and motives, these
women received typically harsh male sentences.182
Finally, there is something that these women have in common that the statistics do not
address. Each one of these Oregon women has surviving children, and each of them has a child
that they did not try to kill. Diane’s youngest child was born after she was found guilty. Also,
two of her children survived their mother’s attack. Angela has four children other than Jeanette,
only the youngest two of whom were in her custody at the time of Jeanette’s abuse. Jeanette’s
two older brothers are in the custody of Child Welfare in California.183 Amanda’s daughter
survived her mother’s attempt on her life, but Amanda has an older son as well. There are
simply no national statistics that speak to whether it is typical for filicidal mothers to have either
children who survive a murder attempt, or children who were not targeted at all.
In each of the above cases, the judge or jury was able to correctly evaluate the case to
determine that the woman was deserving of a harsh punishment. The simple fact that they were
female did not work in their favor. Judges and juries are more than capable of evaluating which
crimes deserve leniency, and which ones do not. While women generally receive more lenient
sentences for filicide, this is because their means and motives for the crimes are usually more
182
Diane received life in prison, Angela received the death penalty, and Amanda received 35 years to life.
183
The Associated Press, Father of Slain Eugene Teenager “Crushed” to Hear of Her Death, OREGONLIVE (Dec.
12, 2009, 1:34 PM), http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/father_of_slain_eugene_teenage.html.
27
sympathetic. In the Oregon examples, the means and motives used by the women required
condemnation, which the legal system provided.
B. The Oregon Men
1. Christian Longo
Christian (“Chris”) Longo is the closest example of a male equivalent of Diane Downs,
and he is the most famous perpetrator of paternal filicide in Oregon. In 2001, Chris killed his
wife and three children.184 He strangled his wife and infant daughter, and shoved them into
suitcases which he then dumped into the bay.185 He also tied his two older children to bags full
of rocks and threw them off of a bridge into a river.186 His older children were likely still alive
when this happened.187
Like Diane, Chris’ background does not help to explain his crime. Chris grew up in a
small, religious community.188 He began dating his wife, MaryJane, when he was just 18 and
she was 25.189 They married five months later.190 They began having children.191 He started his
own business, and was doing quite well for himself.192 However, the business did not make as
much money as he had hoped, so he began forging checks in order to keep up the façade of a
privileged lifestyle.193 At one time, he stole a car when he could not afford to buy a replacement
for one that had been damaged.194 When the collection agencies began calling in the debts, Chris
184
See Engstrom, supra note 4.
185
Michael Finkel, How I Convinced a Death-Row Murderer Not to Die, ESQUIRE Page 5 (Dec. 21, 2009, 7:58 AM),
http://www.esquire.com/features/christian-longo-0110.
186
Id.
187
Id.; Engstrom, supra note 4, at Ch. 1.
188
Engstrom, supra note 4, at Ch. 2.
189
Id.
190
Finkel, supra note 185, at Page 2.
191
Engstrom, supra note 4, at Ch. 3.
192
Id. at Ch. 5.
193
Id.
194
Id.
28
took his family and fled to Oregon.195 There, he secured a nice place for his family to live,
despite the fact that he was an hourly worker at Starbucks.196
Even though Chris had a steady job, money problems continued to plague the family,197
and this seems to be one of the reasons he committed the murders.198 However, several possible
motives for the murders have been offered, most of them by Chris himself. At his trial, he
asserted that it was his wife who had killed the two older children, and attempted to kill the
youngest one as well.199 He claimed that he killed his wife when he found out, and then killed
his youngest child for reasons that are unclear.200 The prosecution argued that he killed his
family in order to enjoy a life that was not inhibited by the demands coming from 3 children and
from his conservative and religious wife.201 Years later, Chris would claim that he killed all of
them because they deserved a life better than what he could give them.202
After committing the murders, Chris went back to work and claimed that MaryJane had
run off with a lover and had taken the children with her.203 Yet, when the body of his oldest
child was discovered (he had become untied from the bag of rocks), Chris fled.204 He eventually
ended up in Mexico, where he was apprehended by the FBI after being featured on America’s
Most Wanted and being on the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted” list.205 At trial, he plead guilty to
killing his wife and his youngest child, but maintained that his wife had killed the older two
195
Id. at Ch. 7.
196
Id. at Ch. 9.
197
Id. at Ch. 10.
198
Id.
199
Id. at Ch. 15.
200
Id.
201
Id.
202
Finkel, supra note 185, at Page 5.
203
Engstrom, supra note 4, at Ch. 10.
204
Id. at Ch. 11.
205
Id. at Ch. 13--14.
29
children.206 The jury convicted him of the murders of the older two children and sentenced him
to death.207
Prior to being tried, Chris had never been evaluated by a psychologist, but the
prosecution requested a psychological exam before trial began.208 In his report, the psychologist
labeled him as a borderline psychopath.209
Even given this sensational story, Chris still seems to fit into the national trends for
paternal filicide. Starting with the mode of death, generally, men prefer to kill with a directly
violent means. This is precisely what Chris did by strangling his wife and his youngest child.
However, Chris went with a more feminine means to kill his older two children, preferring to
drop them into a river tied to a bag of rocks. Drowning is considered to be a non-violent means
of committing murder, and Amanda used a means similar to this when she threw her two
children off of a bridge.
Chris’ motive, however, was not typically male or female. Typically, men tend to kill out
of abuse or for revenge, whereas women kill for altruistic reasons. The motive that the jury
agreed with at trial was that Chris killed for selfish reasons, in order to be free of his family.
This is yet another similarity to Diane as she had the exact same motive for her crime. While
Chris did later state that his reason for killing was altruistic – he loved his children and thought
they would be better off dead – the jury determined otherwise.
Demographically, Chris fits some of the paternal filicide trends as well. At the time of
the murders, he was employed but the family was in deep financial difficulty. Chris’s sentence
is also a typically harsh male sentence – he was given the death penalty for his crimes.
206
Id. at Ch. 15.
207
Id.
208
Finkel, supra note 185, at Page 4.
209
Id.
30
However, there is one aspect of this case that does not follow the paternal filicide trends.
Chris was diagnosed with a psychological disorder. Typically, male perpetrators are not
diagnosed with any mental health issues, let alone given a label as serious as a borderline
psychopath. It is interesting to note that Diane was also given a serious psychological diagnosis
of personality disorder. While these are not the exact same diagnoses, it is yet another similarity
that these cases have.
2. Eber Gramajo
On May 26, 2009, Eber bashed his two-month old daughter’s skull against a hard object,
likely a table or an oak armchair.210 Paramedics were called, and they were able to restore her
heartbeat, but could not get the little girl to breathe again.211 She died of her injuries a short time
later.212 At the time of the incident, Eber’s 16 month-old son was home as well, but he appears
to not have been harmed.213 Eber was charged with one count of felony murder and one count of
first-degree manslaughter.214 He plead guilty to the manslaughter charge, and was given a
sentence of 20 years in prison.215
As he was pleading guilty, Eber continued to maintain his innocence.216 His fiancée and
his fiancée’s father both maintain that Eber would never have intentionally hurt his daughter.217
Different stories have been given for what Eber says happened, but these range from him saying
210
Lisa Lednicer, Beaverton Man Gets 20 Years for Killing Baby, OREGONLIVE (Jan. 5, 2010, 5:09 PM)
http://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/index.ssf/2010/01/beaverton_man_gets_20_years_fo.html.
211
Id.
212
Id.
213
Aloha Man Accused of Killing 2-month-old Daughter, OREGONLIVE (May 27, 2009, 4:35 PM)
http://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/index.ssf/2009/05/aloha_man_accused_of_killing_2.html.
214
Indictment-Secret at 1--2, State v. Gramajo, Washington County No. C091226CR (Circuit Court June 3, 2009).
215
Judgment of Conviction and Sentence at 1--3, State v. Gramajo, Washington County No. C091226CR (Circuit
Court Jan. 22, 2010)
216
Lednicer, supra note 110.
217
Id.
31
that she fell, to claiming that she had some kind of a seizure and hit her head.218 However,
doctors state that the amount of force that would have been needed to sustain the damage that his
daughter endured could not have come from either of those instances.219 It would have taken a
deliberate and forceful act in order for her skull to be so damaged that her heart and lungs simply
stopped working.220
Eber’s fiancée maintains that he is a good man and a loving father.221 She says that he
has helped raise the two children they have together, along with her two children from another
relationship.222 At the time of the incident, Eber was working as a landscaper.223 His fiancée,
however, was unemployed.224 Also, Eber was in the United States illegally, and he will be
deported to Guatemala after he serves his time.225 His fiancée has stated that she plans to
maintain a relationship with him, but that it will become difficult once he is deported.226
Eber’s case seems to fit almost perfectly into the national trends. At the time of the
offense, he was employed. While most women are not employed, most men who commit filicide
are. Eber’s daughter died as a result of a fatal blow to the head, most likely a result of her head
being bashed against a table, or the arm of a wood chair. This means of killing is direct and
violent, also typical of paternal homicides. The death came as a result of a fatal episode of
abuse, which is a motive most common among males.
There is no indication in news reports or court records that Eber was suffering from any
mental illness at the time of the offense, which is typical of paternal filicide perpetrators. Eber’s
218
Id.
219
Id.
220
Id.
221
Id.
222
Id.
223
Id.
224
Id.
225
Id.
226
Id.
32
sentence also follows the national trends, he received 20 years for the death of his 2-month-old
daughter. The mandatory minimum sentence for first degree manslaughter in Oregon is 120
months.227 However, the court found reason to increase Eber’s sentence, as the victim in this
case was considered a vulnerable victim, given that she was only 2 months old.228 This is a harsh
sentence, and that is typical for paternal filicide offenders.
Of all the Oregon men, Eber most closely follows the paternal filicide trends. It does
seem slightly out of the ordinary that Eber’s relatives continued to stand by his side and advocate
his innocence even as Eber himself plead guilty. However, he still killed in a directly violent
means as a result of fatal child abuse, so this attempt to paint himself as a good father to the
judge was eventually unsuccessful. The judge correctly evaluated Eber’s offense, and punished
him accordingly, which is also what happened in the next case.
3. Derek Jackson
In June 2010, Derek called 911 saying that his son was suffering from a “choking
issue.”229 Paramedics responded and took the child, three month old Ryder, to the hospital.230
Ryder was later transferred to a hospital in Portland, where he died.231 While being treated, the
hospital staff discovered numerous injuries on Ryder’s body, including a traumatic brain
injury.232 Derek originally said that this injury was caused by Ryder falling off of a mattress, and
then later changed his story to say that Ryder had slipped out of his hands and hit his head on the
bathtub.233 While Derek is responsible for the injury, exactly what happened is still unknown.
227
ORS 137.700(2)(a)(D) (2009).
228
Judgment, supra note 215.
229
Jack Moran, Father Charged in 3-Month-Old’s Death: Derek Jackson Called 911 on Saturday to Get Help for
the Child, Who Died Tuesday in a Portland Hospital, THE REGISTER-GUARD, June 26, 2010, at B1.
230
Id.
231
Id.
232
McCowan, supra note 6.
233
Id.
33
Like Eber, Derek’s background is relatively unknown. All that is known is that at the
time of Ryder’s killing, Derek was on probation for driving under the influence and reckless
endangerment.234 In April of 2011, Derek plead guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 18
years in prison.235
Derek and Eber’s crimes are almost identical. Both of them killed their infant children by
bashing their heads against a hard object. They both plead guilty to manslaughter, and received
very similar sentences: Derek will serve 18 years in prison, and Eber will serve 20. Both of their
backgrounds are unknown, although what is known is where their lives seem to differ. Eber was
employed at the time of his offense and did not have any criminal history. It is not known
whether Derek was employed, but he was on probation at the time of his crime. Also, Eber’s
family stood by his side and maintained his innocence as he entered his plea, while Derek did not
seem to have such support. Derek killed his child using a directly violent means and as a result
of fatal child abuse, which fits into the paternal filicide trends, just as Eber’s crime does.
4. Christopher Rosillo
Christopher Rosillo committed a crime surprisingly similar to Angela. In April of 2010,
someone called 911 from inside Christopher’s home, where Christopher lived with his girlfriend
and their two children, aged 11 months and 3 years, and Christopher’s 5-year-old daughter.236
Police responded and found Oleander, Christopher’s 5 year old daughter, lying unconscious on
the floor.237 She was pronounced dead when she reached the hospital.238 She died as a result of
234
Id.
235
Karen McCowan, Fatal Abuse of Infant Son Brings 18-Year Sentence: A Plea Deal Keeps the Father From
Going to Trial on a Murder Charge, THE REGISTER-GUARD, Apr. 7, 2011, at B1.
236
Green, supra note 7.
237
Maxine Bernstein, Indictment Alleges Years of Abuse Led to Death of 5-Year-Old Gresham Girl, OREGONLIVE
(Apr. 26, 2010, 8:28 PM), http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2010/04/indictment_alleges_years_of
_ab.html.
238
Id.
34
continuous abuse.239 She was so malnourished that she weighed only 28 pounds, and her eyes
had sunken into her head.240 She had fractures all over her body, and bruises that were
consistent with a rod-type weapon.241 Due to health issues, she had needed to use a feeding tube
during the first years of her life, but had not needed it in about a year before her death. 242 This
tube somehow got removed shortly before her death, and she seemed to be vomiting and
aspirating blood because of it.243 Because of the extensive abuse she suffered, the exact cause of
death is unknown.244
Even less is known about Christopher. At the time of the murder, he was on probation
for drug offenses, but the rest of his demographic information remains a mystery.245 It is not
known whether he was working at the time of the offense, if he has any mental health problems,
or what his own childhood was like. All that is known is that his daughter died as a result of
abuse, and in March, 2011 Christopher plead guilty to her murder.246 While he will not be
sentenced until the end of April, it seems likely that he will be sentenced to life in prison, with a
possibility of parole in 25 years.247
While it cannot be determined whether Christopher demographically fits the national
trends for paternal homicide, it is certain that he fits the trends for means and motive.
Christopher killed his daughter as a result of fatal child abuse, and he used a directly violent
means to kill her. When he plead guilty, Christopher admitted to breaking her ribs, femur, and
239
Green, supra note 7.
240
Id.
241
Id.
242
Id.
243
Id.
244
Id.; Bernstein, supra note 237.
245
Bernstein, supra note 237.
246
Green, supra note 7.
247
Id.
35
causing damaging to her intestines.248 In fact, all of Oleander’s internal organs showed some
type of scarring because of the extensive abuse that she suffered.249
Christopher’s proposed sentence is also a typically harsh male sentence. Christopher will
likely face life imprisonment for his crimes. This sentence is directly between what Chris and
Eber are facing, and shows the spectrum of possible harsh punishments. In fact, it is likely that
the only reason Christopher is not facing the death penalty is because he decided to plead guilty
instead of taking his chances at trial. While Angela plead guilty as well, the prosecutor in her
case refused to take the death penalty off of the table, and forced a sentencing hearing. The
prosecutor in Christopher’s case must have determined that such lengths were not necessary, and
contented themselves with the sentence of life in prison.
• • • • •
All of the Oregon men seem to follow the national filicide trends. In fact, the men and
women in these examples committed crimes that are surprisingly similar to each other. Both
Christopher and Angela killed their oldest daughter as a result of extended, systematic abuse.
Both daughters were malnourished, and ambulances were called to both houses to examine the
already dead daughters. Both daughters had extensive physical injuries, in addition to the
obvious starvation. Christopher and Angela each had two younger children in the home as well.
However, in each case, only the oldest daughter was singled out as the victim of the extensive
abuse. Christopher and Angela also each had a significant other in the home who was not the
biological parent of the victim. Angela had re-married, and Christopher lived with his girlfriend,
and the mother of his youngest two children. Also, in both houses, the victim was not the
biological child of the significant other. Both Angela and Christopher plead guilty to their
248
Id.
249
Id.
36
crimes, but Angela did so without any sort of deal in place for sentencing. Christopher plead
guilty with a deal in place where he received life in prison.
Chris and Amanda both drowned their children by dropping them off of a bridge while
they were still alive. However, only Chris did so after first tying rocks to his children’s feet.
Yet, Chris is most like Diane in his crime. They both have severe psychological disorders, and
are essentially psychopaths. They both had sensational stories, as well. Chris fled to Mexico
after his crime and caused an international manhunt. He was on the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted” list
before he was apprehended. Diane intentionally became pregnant for her trial. Also, she later
escaped from prison, which caused a similar manhunt for her, although hers was far more
localized. Diane and Chris also both killed out of selfish means. They wanted to be free of their
families in order to live life in a way they felt they deserved. However, their sentences are not
the same. Chris received the death penalty, while Diane received life in prison. However, Diane
was not eligible for the death penalty. If this had been an option, it is highly likely that Diane
would have received the death penalty, just as Chris did.
As previously discussed, Eber and Derek committed crimes which were incredibly
similar, and received incredibly similar sentences for them. Only Amanda seems to stand alone
for her crime. While she and Chris both used drowning as their means of committing murder,
Amanda is the only perpetrator in these examples that had retaliation as her motive. She is also
the only perpetrator who attempted suicide after her crime.
While all of the Oregon women had children that were not victims of the crime, and had
children who survived the crime, not all of the Oregon men are in a similar position. Eber and
Christopher both had other children in the home who were not the victims, but they are the only
two. Chris killed all of his children, and there is no mention of Derek having any other children.
37
In fact, even though there are similarities to be drawn among the examples given, each
one of the above crimes is unique, and terrible. However, the legal system was able to
individually evaluate each of the above crimes, and determine what the appropriate punishment
would be. All of the punishments received, while not identical, were appropriately harsh.
III. Conclusion
In each of the above cases, the legal system was able to analyze the specific facts and
circumstances of the individual crime, and determine what the appropriate punishment would be.
There was no blanket leniency given to one gender over the other, and in fact both the men and
women in these examples had similar punishments.
Nationally, the trend is that women would receive lighter sentences than the men. This is
likely because, nationally, women commit filicide using means that are not directly violent, and
out of an altruistic motive. These national statistics do not suggest that women are automatically
given leniency for their crimes, or that there is any gender bias in the legal system. Instead, they
simply suggest that judges and juries find the means and motives used by most paternal filicide
perpetrators to be more despicable than those typically employed by women. In other words, no
matter who commits the crime, the court would be sympathetic to a parent who killed their child
using a non-directly violent means and out of an altruistic motive.
However, none of the perpetrators in the Oregon examples killed in this way. Almost all
of the offenses were directly violent, and none of the motives were altruistic. The judge or jury
was then able to evaluate the specific facts of each case, and correctly punish each parent
involved.
38