Men are violent. There's no denying it. It is estimated that men commit 98% of all murders globally. What's interesting to note is that of all female homicide victims, 10% were killed by strangers. In contrast, 70% of male homicide victims are killed by strangers. It seems like men are facing random violence while women are being checked by the people in their lives.
What about that 2%? Who are these outliers and why do they do what they do? To explore this question, I wish to look at mothers who killed their children. We will discuss their motive and the events that led to the tragic event. With every subsequent entry, the death toll increases by one.
1. Julissa Thaler
Deaths: 1
Motive: Revenge
Julissa Thaler has always been a thrill-seeker. She started drinking at 13 and was abusing prescription drugs in her early twenties, resulting in her going in and out of treatment facilities. At one point, she used LSD on a daily basis.
Julissa had a son, Eli Hart, with a man named Tony Hart. Their relationship had been a tumultuous one which featured Julissa making insane accusations against Tony. Additionally, Julissa used drugs during her pregnancy. Eli was born with Townes-Brocks syndrome, a disease that affects several of his organs. Consequently, he wears hearing aids.
Tony, who had worked to get his life together and was married to another woman, was fighting to gain custody of Eli. This was hard because, despite being gainfully employed and a responsible citizen, the mother's custody rights take precedence. Julissa, who was spiteful, also didn't want Tony to have the child and she did everything she could to prevent him from seeing Eli.
In 2019, she accused Tony of making a homemade bomb. Though no such bomb was found, that was enough to have a restraining order filed against him, essentially barring him from seeing his son at all, as she had managed to gain 100% custody.
When Eli was with Julissa, she wouldn't bathe him or clothe him, and the child would wind up with cuts and matted hair because it was never combed. Child Protection Services eventually visited her home, found in complete disarray, and took the child away from her. Julissa was sent to a mental healthcare facility.
At this point, you'd think Tony would finally have his son? No. He was given to Nikita and Stephen Konenberg, who were relatives of Julissa. Still, the father fought to see his son and gain custody. When Julissa was back on the streets, it was up to the courts to determine who Eli would be given to. Julissa regained custody. When she parked outside Nikita's house with binoculars in the early hours of the morning, Nikita called the police. Consequently, Julissa was given Eli two days earlier. The father still did not have custody.
As part of having Eli back in her care, Julissa was ordered to take parenting classes. She did not. At school, Eli complained that his mommy was hurting him. A teacher reported it to CPS. Julissa did not lose custody and she explicitly told CPS that Tony will never see his son.
On May 20, Julissa put her son (now 6. in the backseat of the car and drove to a secluded area. Due to his disabilities, he sat in a car seat. She then pulled out a shotgun and shot Eli 9 times, having to reload the gun. By the end of her carnage, her back window had been blown out, and the car interior was covered in blood. She then took the car seat containing whatever was left of Eli and put it into the backseat.
During her drive home, she is pulled over by the police. In addition to the smashed window, one of her front tires is missing. They speak to Julissa and they realize that she has brain splatter in her hair, she's covered in blood, and there are shotgun shells littered all over her car. She manages to convince the police that it's deer meat, so they decide to give her a ride home! Some of the police stay by the car. They're still suspicious of the whole thing, so they decide to open the trunk. In there, they find the horrific mess Julissa made.
She is arrested, and is given life without the possibility of parole. At sentencing, the judge asks if she has anything she wants to say. She does: βI'm innocent. Frick you all. You're garbage.β When the judge is reading the sentencing, she tells him to speak up because she can't hear him over his stomach grumbling.
The saddest part of this case is how preventable it was. I didn't even go through everything CPS overlooked or just didn't give a shit about when they kept giving the baby back to her.
2. Christy Sheats
Deaths: 2
Motive: Revenge
Christy Sheats was married to Jason Sheats. They were a relatively wealthy family in Texas, and they had two daughters. Madison was 17 and she was a straight-A student. Taylor was 22 and in college.
Christy and Jason were fighting all the time, and this had been going on for years. Furthermore, Christy wasn't particularly mentally stable, and she had attempted suicide three times. Eventually, Jason realized he could not handle things anymore. He told Christy that he was going to divorce. Men, if you're going to divorce your wife, leave with the kids first. An abuse victim is most at risk when they want to leave the relationship.
On June 24, 2016, Christy spoke to her husband and reminded him that they hadn't told the girls about the divorce. Jason agreed that they should do it. So Christy called for a family meeting. After the family gathered together, they turned to Christy, expecting her to speak. Instead, she pulled out a .38-caliber revolver and shot Taylor in the chest.
At this point, Jason is utterly horrified and Madison is screaming. Jason tells Madison to run and call the police as she shields Taylor amd tries to escape with her. Madison flees and manages to call 911, and she's soon joined by Taylor and Jason who are still desperately begging her to not shoot them. She shoots Madison in the back and she dies on the porch.
The calls are available online, but be warned they are absolutely harrowing one of the worst things I've heard so don't listen unless you want to hear a 17yo scream βMOMMY DON'T SHOOT MEβ before getting shot as a husband howls in the background.
Jason and Taylor make it onto the street where they're also calling 911. Once again, the audio is disturbing beyond belief. Jason is begging Christy, telling her he'll do anything if she puts the gun down. She does not put the gun down. Instead, she went back inside to reload before returning to shoot Taylor again. Police arrive on the scene, but this doesn't deter her. She shoots Taylor a third time. She is ordered to put the gun down and she does not comply, resulting in police opening fire on her and killing her.
Christy did not shoot Jason. Not one hair on him was harmed. That was intentional. She wanted to hurt Jason and absolutely psychologically shatter him. Did I mention that it was also his birthday?
3. Lauren Peepeeason
Deaths: 3
Motive: Unwanted children and possibly revenge
Lauren Peepeeason grew up wealthy in South Africa. Thanks to her brains as well as her money, she was able to study medicine and become a doctor. In 2005, she met Graham Peepeeason, an orthopaedic surgeon, in Pretoria, and before long the two married.
Peepeeason is described as an intelligent woman, though she could be rude at times. She was very sociable and had a big friend group. She also had a long history of depression.
She and Graham wanted to have children, but it was proving to be harder than anticipated. Consequently, they ended up relying on IVF and donor eggs. LianΓ©, her first child, was born in 2014. Not long after, she had twin girls, Maya and Karly in 2018.
Peepeeason was happy to be a parent, but it wouldn't be true to say she loved every aspect of it. The kids were a handful, and according to Peepeeason, they would regularly kick and slap her and (taking a note from Bella and Cece Watts) throw chicken nuggets at her. In contrast, they loved their father, which angered Peepeeason.
She would regularly complain about her kids to her friends, and some of the texts are truly horrific. She says the children are never enough, that she wants to murder them, and that she regrets becoming a mother. She also expresses rage when the children favor their father. She confided in her husband that she had thoughts of harming and killing her children, and he gets her on antidepressants.
Though life was good for the wealthy Peepeeasons, they did not like South Africa for a myriad of reasons, including the high crime rate, social unrest, and the government's declining ability to provide electricity to its citizens.
During the lockdowns of 2020, Peepeeason's mental health steeply declined. This is in part due to how strict the lockdown restrictions in South Africa are. Eventually, Graham and his wife decided they had had enough of South Africa, so they moved to New Zealand. Before they left, Graham found 3 cable ties linked together in the closet but thought nothing of it.
They arrived in New Zealand and to their astonishment, Peepeeason's condition did not improve. She hated Timaru and felt that they had made a mistake by moving. A much bigger mistake was coming.
On 16 September 2021, Peepeeason went to go pick up her children from school. First, she had to get Karla. As usual, she threw a fit in the car, frustrating Peepeeason. After picking up the other children, they visited the park for a while before returning home. Graham had a prior engagement with some work buddies, leaving Lauren alone with the kids. They were particularly boisterous and cantankerous that evening, jumping on the couches and disrespecting Peepeeason.
Peepeeason told her children that they were going to make special necklaces. She gave them the cable ties and tied them around their necks. With that done, she began strangling the kids one by one. She started with Karla who she admitted had been particularly mean to her that evening. LianΓ©, who was 7 at the time, was old enough to know what was going on and began pleading with her mother. According to Peepeeason, she βvery angry and she wants to know why I'm doing this to them because I'm the best mum and she loves me.β
All three children were strangled, though it took some smothering as well to ensure they were truly dead. She then made a few pathetic attempts at suicide before swallowing some pills. Graham returned to a house of horror. Following the deaths, he would move back to South Africa while Peepeeason stood trial in New Zealand.
In court, Peepeeason argued insanity, and there was some basis for this, as she had suffered from postpartum depression. Prosecutors painted a different picture. They claimed that Peepeeason was tired of her children, and she was jealous of the fact that they preferred her father. She regularly sent friends texts about killing her kids and how annoying she found them to be. In August 2023, Peepeeason was found guilty, and she is currently awaiting sentencing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_the_Dickason_children
CONCLUSION
In part 2, we'll continue our count from 4. Alan Wake 2 review tomorrow. Bye :)
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It's interesting how women murder family over stangers and men do the opposite.
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