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Katil Babalar
Bu kitaptaki çocuklar sevdikleri ve kendilerini sevdiklerini düşündükleri kişiler tarafından öldürüldüler.
Beş yaşındaki üvey kızını acımasızca öldüren bir baba,
Karısını ve her şeyden çok sevdiği iki kızını planlayarak öldürüp, sonra da intihar eden, titiz ve aklı başında bir yetişkin olarak tanınan avukat bir baba,
Karısını öldürdükten günler sonra önce iki küçük oğlunu öldürüp sonra da kendisiyle birlikte evi ateşe veren genç bir baba,
Karısını ve çocuklarını öldürmek için tam üç yıl boyunca plan yapan ve cinayet günü için “Bu şanlı bir gün ve sanki Tanrı’nın takdiri hayırlara gülümsüyor,” diye yazan gururlu ve iş hayatında başarılı bir baba,
İlk çocuğunu bekleyen sekiz aylık hamile karısını Noel arifesinde öldüren müstakbel bir baba ...ve diğerleri.
Hiçbir suç, bir çocuğun kendi anne ya da babası tarafından öldürüldüğü cinayetler kadar korkunç değildir. Babaların kendi çocuklarını öldürdükleri bu cinayetler, ilişkiler ve insan davranışları hakkındaki inançları derinden sarstığı için toplum, arkadaşlar ve tanıdıklar için son derece şoke edicidir.
Gazeteci Mary Papenfuss, Katil Babalar'da aile dinamiklerini olabilecek en karanlık kâbusa çeviren gerçek vakaları inceliyor; mağdurların arkadaşları ve aileleriyle yaptığı görüşmeler, polis dosyalarının incelenmesi ve "katil babaları" izleyen araştırmacıların çalışmalarından ayrıntılı profiller sunuyor ve sonunda, modern toplumda bu tür suçları teşvik edebilecek faktörleri ve onları önlemek için alabileceğimiz ve almak zorunda olduğumuz önlemleri tartışıyor.
Beş yaşındaki üvey kızını acımasızca öldüren bir baba,
Karısını ve her şeyden çok sevdiği iki kızını planlayarak öldürüp, sonra da intihar eden, titiz ve aklı başında bir yetişkin olarak tanınan avukat bir baba,
Karısını öldürdükten günler sonra önce iki küçük oğlunu öldürüp sonra da kendisiyle birlikte evi ateşe veren genç bir baba,
Karısını ve çocuklarını öldürmek için tam üç yıl boyunca plan yapan ve cinayet günü için “Bu şanlı bir gün ve sanki Tanrı’nın takdiri hayırlara gülümsüyor,” diye yazan gururlu ve iş hayatında başarılı bir baba,
İlk çocuğunu bekleyen sekiz aylık hamile karısını Noel arifesinde öldüren müstakbel bir baba ...ve diğerleri.
Hiçbir suç, bir çocuğun kendi anne ya da babası tarafından öldürüldüğü cinayetler kadar korkunç değildir. Babaların kendi çocuklarını öldürdükleri bu cinayetler, ilişkiler ve insan davranışları hakkındaki inançları derinden sarstığı için toplum, arkadaşlar ve tanıdıklar için son derece şoke edicidir.
Gazeteci Mary Papenfuss, Katil Babalar'da aile dinamiklerini olabilecek en karanlık kâbusa çeviren gerçek vakaları inceliyor; mağdurların arkadaşları ve aileleriyle yaptığı görüşmeler, polis dosyalarının incelenmesi ve "katil babaları" izleyen araştırmacıların çalışmalarından ayrıntılı profiller sunuyor ve sonunda, modern toplumda bu tür suçları teşvik edebilecek faktörleri ve onları önlemek için alabileceğimiz ve almak zorunda olduğumuz önlemleri tartışıyor.
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
276 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
17 people are currently reading
463 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 27, 2013
What do langur monkeys have to do with human fathers who murder their children? They offer interesting evolutionary clues about why parents act the way they do, and when they use violence. It's one of a number of perspectives on the troubling rash of parent-on-child killings in American society examined in the book Killer Dads: The Twisted Drives that Compel Fathers to Murder Their Own Kids.
Journalist Mary Papenfuss looks at five key cases of fathers who murdered their children, from Washington state dad Josh Powell, who killed his two young sons and himself in a home he had booby-trapped with gasoline and torched, to the "honor killing" of Jessica Mokdad in Michigan, and New York lawyer William Parente's shocking murder of his entire family in a suburban Baltimore hotel. Each story stands as a gripping, thoroughly researched "true crime" account, but is also paired with theories by several experts about why such crimes occur. The book concludes with ideas about how the continuing problem of family violence can be addressed.
Papenfuss breaks down the notorious murders into "categories" of killings by fathers -- the murder of a stepchild, a family annihilation which the father considers "mercy killings," an "honor" killing of a daughter, a familicide wreaked in rage, and murder by a psychopath dad-to-be. The psychopath is Modesto fertilizer salesman Scott Peterson. Papenfuss effectively presents the psychopathic personality quoting wiretapped conversations presented in Peterson's murder trial for killing his wife, Laci, who was eight months pregnant at the time with their first child, Conor. Papenfuss, who covered the California trial for the New York Daily News, presents Peterson as a handsome, charismatic predator who set out to find a mistress just months before Laci was to have his son. He concocted a fantasy of a lavish lifestyle for his intended lover, Amber Frey, boasting of a family complex in Kennebunkport, Maine, fishing adventures to Alaska, and business trips to Europe (in one scene he pretends to be watching fireworks from the Eiffel Tower as he talks on the phone to Frey; in fact, he's calling near his home while police search for his wife's body in San Francisco Bay). He was an attentive, romantic, seductive partner with Frey, and used the fact that he "lost" his wife to elicit sympathy from her. A few short months later, he did "lose" his wife.
The book also includes two gripping chapters written by people directly involved in the murders: A man who fatally stabbed his five-year-old stepdaughter, who writes of his rage, and soon-to-be victim Susan Cox Powell, who confides in a series of emails to friends her fears about her increasingly threatening spouse.
I highly recommend this book. It's a gripping combination of true crime, criminology and sociology about a problem shattering families in America.
Journalist Mary Papenfuss looks at five key cases of fathers who murdered their children, from Washington state dad Josh Powell, who killed his two young sons and himself in a home he had booby-trapped with gasoline and torched, to the "honor killing" of Jessica Mokdad in Michigan, and New York lawyer William Parente's shocking murder of his entire family in a suburban Baltimore hotel. Each story stands as a gripping, thoroughly researched "true crime" account, but is also paired with theories by several experts about why such crimes occur. The book concludes with ideas about how the continuing problem of family violence can be addressed.
Papenfuss breaks down the notorious murders into "categories" of killings by fathers -- the murder of a stepchild, a family annihilation which the father considers "mercy killings," an "honor" killing of a daughter, a familicide wreaked in rage, and murder by a psychopath dad-to-be. The psychopath is Modesto fertilizer salesman Scott Peterson. Papenfuss effectively presents the psychopathic personality quoting wiretapped conversations presented in Peterson's murder trial for killing his wife, Laci, who was eight months pregnant at the time with their first child, Conor. Papenfuss, who covered the California trial for the New York Daily News, presents Peterson as a handsome, charismatic predator who set out to find a mistress just months before Laci was to have his son. He concocted a fantasy of a lavish lifestyle for his intended lover, Amber Frey, boasting of a family complex in Kennebunkport, Maine, fishing adventures to Alaska, and business trips to Europe (in one scene he pretends to be watching fireworks from the Eiffel Tower as he talks on the phone to Frey; in fact, he's calling near his home while police search for his wife's body in San Francisco Bay). He was an attentive, romantic, seductive partner with Frey, and used the fact that he "lost" his wife to elicit sympathy from her. A few short months later, he did "lose" his wife.
The book also includes two gripping chapters written by people directly involved in the murders: A man who fatally stabbed his five-year-old stepdaughter, who writes of his rage, and soon-to-be victim Susan Cox Powell, who confides in a series of emails to friends her fears about her increasingly threatening spouse.
I highly recommend this book. It's a gripping combination of true crime, criminology and sociology about a problem shattering families in America.
June 29, 2023
Aunque admiro el intento de la autora de mezclar estudios sociológicos y antropológicos sobre los padres que matan a sus hijos, esos capitulos mezclados con los de los casos se hacen largos y sinceramente ha habido algunos (como el larguísimo estudio sobre el comportamiento de no sé qué menos) que he leído en diagonal.
Esperaba más true crime y menos ensayo la verdad.
Esperaba más true crime y menos ensayo la verdad.
August 5, 2013
When James cut the throat of his five-year-old stepdaughter during a 2009 family vacation, he wanted "everyone to hurt." He was in the midst of an argument with his wife, his "soul mate," and the little girl was bothering him, and she and her sister were the cause of an ongoing argument between the couple. He grabbed the girl in a white-hot rage, and before he knew it, she was dead. Now he sits in a state prison, still stunned by his violence.
This gripping account is one of several in Mary Papenfuss' riveting book Killer Dads: The Twisted Drive that Compel Fathers to Murder Their Own Kids. Papenfuss examines five major true crime cases (and notes several others) of fathers who have killed their children: a stepchild killing, two different kinds of family annihilations, an honor killing and a murder by a psychopath — the notorious Scott Peterson of Modesto, California, who killed his pregnant wife, Lacy, and now waits on death row. The writer combines with those accounts fascinating histories and theories of academics and other experts who have studied the phenomenon of family violence for years. The most interesting are the evolutionary psychologists who see ancient fundamental drives behind violence between man and spouse, and man and child. It's a convincing perspective that makes sense in several cases.
American life may also be partly to blame for the horrifying statistics. Neil Websdale, a criminology professor at Northern Arizona University, has studied over 200 cases of family annihilations, which is the murder of an entire family followed by suicide of the killer. In almost every case, the murderer is the father. Websdale believes the birth of such familicides was the early American Republic. He believes America demands too much from its men, who must be at once nurturing and tough, understanding and demanding, and are expected to remain calm and supremely financially successful through it all. The demands are even more challenging in a culture that offers little support and help to families in trouble. Websdale focuses on "familicidal hearts," not just "familicidal crimes." He's astounded, Papenfuss writes, that so many men have fantasies about killing their families — which says something "profound" about American culture, Websdale believes.
It's one of several endlessly intriguing theories Papenfuss explores in her hunt for reasons behind the killing of children by their fathers. But true crime fans simply seeking heart-pounding cases and motivation hints won't be disappointed. Papenfuss brings a narrative power to her compelling crimes that combines careful attention to detail, a profound trove of research and insight, and a solid, affecting compassion.
This gripping account is one of several in Mary Papenfuss' riveting book Killer Dads: The Twisted Drive that Compel Fathers to Murder Their Own Kids. Papenfuss examines five major true crime cases (and notes several others) of fathers who have killed their children: a stepchild killing, two different kinds of family annihilations, an honor killing and a murder by a psychopath — the notorious Scott Peterson of Modesto, California, who killed his pregnant wife, Lacy, and now waits on death row. The writer combines with those accounts fascinating histories and theories of academics and other experts who have studied the phenomenon of family violence for years. The most interesting are the evolutionary psychologists who see ancient fundamental drives behind violence between man and spouse, and man and child. It's a convincing perspective that makes sense in several cases.
American life may also be partly to blame for the horrifying statistics. Neil Websdale, a criminology professor at Northern Arizona University, has studied over 200 cases of family annihilations, which is the murder of an entire family followed by suicide of the killer. In almost every case, the murderer is the father. Websdale believes the birth of such familicides was the early American Republic. He believes America demands too much from its men, who must be at once nurturing and tough, understanding and demanding, and are expected to remain calm and supremely financially successful through it all. The demands are even more challenging in a culture that offers little support and help to families in trouble. Websdale focuses on "familicidal hearts," not just "familicidal crimes." He's astounded, Papenfuss writes, that so many men have fantasies about killing their families — which says something "profound" about American culture, Websdale believes.
It's one of several endlessly intriguing theories Papenfuss explores in her hunt for reasons behind the killing of children by their fathers. But true crime fans simply seeking heart-pounding cases and motivation hints won't be disappointed. Papenfuss brings a narrative power to her compelling crimes that combines careful attention to detail, a profound trove of research and insight, and a solid, affecting compassion.
July 3, 2013
I was familiar with Mary Papenfuss's newspaper coverage of the Scott Peterson trial in California, so I was interested to read the book that triggered her interest in family massacres. I expected "Killer Dads" to be compelling because Papenfuss is a talented writer and a dogged journalist. I was not disappointed. The book is the first page-turner I've read in a long time. I couldn't put it down. I also expected it to be sad, gory and difficult to read in parts, yet it was none of these. Even the tragedy inherent in such a subject is handled with aplomb and in a manner that is neither sensational nor exploitative. Papenfuss is respectful of the victims, even as she unspools their stories gripping detail. She also tells us the story behind the story, examining the evolutionary roots of domestic violence. The opening is particularly riveting, but I won't give any hints.
February 9, 2022
Interesting, to say the least. Putting these horrible crimes into social context does help bring some realization to the inevitable why did they do it. At the very least they do highlight some warning signs to look for.
March 15, 2018
I was blown away by this book. I'm not quite sure how else to describe it.
Papenfuss is a journalist who was inspired to research and write this book as she was covering the Scott Peterson murder trial of his pregnant wife Laci. I remember reading the details about the case in my local newspaper at the time.
This is a gruesome subject and not one easily stomached. Yet the author does a superb job interweaving her accounts of four separate familial murders by fathers, with interviews, subject matter research, and primary source documents, including journals of both killers and victims. It's a shocking and eye-opening read, given how prevalent these types of murders actually are, the variability of statististical tracking methods, and the lackluster response of American society as a whole.
It's scary when the experts say that children are most vulnerable in their own home, and are statistically more at risk by their own parents, and particularly a father, than anyone else. It's even scarier when I read that the US and Somalia are the only two countries who haven't signed on to the universal rights of children, protecting them from physical harm. In the US it is illegal to slap a total stranger in the grocery store, but within parental rights to slap your child. Now, having read this book, this makes no sense to me.
And what's the scariest yet, when the expert, Gelles, was asked how best to protect children, his response was to hope that the child was born to good parents, and secondly to pray that the birth was in a protective culture.
Damn. I'm going to go hug my kids now.
Papenfuss is a journalist who was inspired to research and write this book as she was covering the Scott Peterson murder trial of his pregnant wife Laci. I remember reading the details about the case in my local newspaper at the time.
This is a gruesome subject and not one easily stomached. Yet the author does a superb job interweaving her accounts of four separate familial murders by fathers, with interviews, subject matter research, and primary source documents, including journals of both killers and victims. It's a shocking and eye-opening read, given how prevalent these types of murders actually are, the variability of statististical tracking methods, and the lackluster response of American society as a whole.
It's scary when the experts say that children are most vulnerable in their own home, and are statistically more at risk by their own parents, and particularly a father, than anyone else. It's even scarier when I read that the US and Somalia are the only two countries who haven't signed on to the universal rights of children, protecting them from physical harm. In the US it is illegal to slap a total stranger in the grocery store, but within parental rights to slap your child. Now, having read this book, this makes no sense to me.
And what's the scariest yet, when the expert, Gelles, was asked how best to protect children, his response was to hope that the child was born to good parents, and secondly to pray that the birth was in a protective culture.
Damn. I'm going to go hug my kids now.
December 16, 2020
I have followed the Susan Powell case since it happened. I have read, watched, and listened to anything I could find about the case. This book contained small pieces of information that doesn't line up with the police files or anything else I have heard or read. It really made me not trust the rest of the information in the book.
December 30, 2021
This was not what I was expecting it to be. It was a little all over the place and I'm still a bit confused on the inclusion of the bit regarding the behaviors of monkeys. I was expecting more-so gruesome true crime rather than the half-assed sociological look into familicide. Not a fan.
March 5, 2014
This book was very well written and interesting. The writer was very respectful to those who were victims and to their families. She did not sensationalize the criminals like many true crime books do. There were some very interesting theories presented in this book and a lot of great recommendations to assist in decreasing instances of family violence. I found some parts were very dry as they went extensively in depth about satistics, which is something I tend to question anyway because they are always so unreliable.
September 8, 2013
I won this book from First Reads. I could almost give this 5 stars...that's how good it is written. The author, Mary Papenfuss, is a reporter for the New York Daily News and she covered the Scott Peterson trial. This book details several accounts of true-crime murders committed by fathers and stepfathers, including Peterson. She researched and cited the stories to the fullest extent. I think this book could be used in colleges/universities for Psychology courses; informative and expert non-fiction.
August 30, 2013
I received this book from a GoodRead's giveaway.
It's nonfiction but it is in no way dry or a boring read. It was very very interesting and covered a lot of different information and topics. The langur (kind of monkey) chapter I wasn't expecting, but it was relevant and engaging. I had known of some of the cases the book describes but the author really goes into detail analyzing them.
I learned a lot, but it's not for the fainthearted. These crimes are truly awful.
It's nonfiction but it is in no way dry or a boring read. It was very very interesting and covered a lot of different information and topics. The langur (kind of monkey) chapter I wasn't expecting, but it was relevant and engaging. I had known of some of the cases the book describes but the author really goes into detail analyzing them.
I learned a lot, but it's not for the fainthearted. These crimes are truly awful.
November 20, 2013
Very interesting, but very heavy subject matter. Normally this is not the type the book I would read but I did it for a friend. Her family was profiled in one of the stories and she was of course curious but knew it would be too painful to read. The author is respectful in the cases she reports. She has interesting theories based on research on why and how these tragedies occur and the epidemic of child abuse in the US.
August 19, 2013
great read! Couldnt put it down
March 23, 2014
I skipped a lot of her behavior science chapters to read the pulp, best story is the first.
June 17, 2018
happy Father's Day!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews