History Main / PaterFamilicide

* For the title character in ''Film/TheStepfather'' this got to be a habit, followed by changes of identity to start the process again.

* The United States Supreme Court case ''[[https://www.oyez.org/cases/2004/04-278 Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales]]'' began with this. On June 22, 1999, Simon Gonzales kidnapped his three daughters from their mother's custody, took them to an amusement park for the day, and then killed them before committing SuicideByCop. [[note]]The case was filed by Gonzales' ex-wife, the children's mother, who sued the police department for failing in their duty to protect the children; she had attempted to alert the police that he was in violation of a restraining order and possibly a danger to himself and the girls, only to be told that [[WhatAnIdiot their father wouldn't hurt them]] and she needed to calm down.[[/note]]

* Jean-Claude Romand: a French drop-out from medical school, managed to make everyone in his family believe that he was a doctor working for the World Health Organization. The biggest irony is that he was knowledgeable enough in medicine so that genuine doctors would not realize that he was an impostor when they spoke to him, making you wonder why he just did not just [[CutLexLuthorACheck pass his exams and become what he claimed he was]]. He killed his entire family when he was about to be exposed.

** Good: [[spoiler: Blackmore hired thugs to do it after Torque stopped working for him. It wouldn't count normally but Blackmore is his SplitPersonality. In the sequel's own good ending, killing them was the thugs' idea, which angered Blackmore because he never told them to do so.]]

** Good: [[spoiler: Blackmore hired thugs to do it after Torque stopped working for him. It wouldn't count normally but Blackmore is his SplitPersonality.]]

* 'VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'': In the sidequest "The Family Man", Jin and Lady Masako confront a fisherman named Kajiwara, who confesses to having murdered his wife and daughter, but claims to have done so because it was that or see them killed by the Mongols. Given he has a history of DomesticAbuse, Jin doesn't buy it for a second.

** In 1970, Elmer Crawford murdered his entire family, placed their bodies in a car and pushed it over a cliff to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident. He remains a wanted fugitive today and is probably a KarmaHoudini.

** Also in 2018, in New South Wales, John Edwards shot his two teenage children in their home after almost a decade of DomesticAbuse, then shot himself [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals and his dog]] to escape life imprisonment. His ex-wife killed herself in grief several months after the murders, completing this trope by proxy.

* [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_List John List]] murdered his entire family rather than admit to them that he lost his job and that the family was in dire financial trouble. He went into hiding, adopted an alias, re-married, and would have gotten away with his crime if not for ''America's Most Wanted'' doing a special on him. In a real-life example of a CruelTwistEnding, when the abandoned List home burned down the year after the murders, investigators found an antique stained glass ceiling that was worth more than enough money to solve the family's financial problems, at least in the short term, making the deaths [[SenselessSacrifice especially pointless]].
* Another real-life version was the tragedy surrounding professional wrestler Wrestling/ChrisBenoit, who murdered his wife and son then hanged himself using his weights machine, and is still considered the darkest day in the history of WWE. Exactly why it happened is not known, but a history of steroid use and some pretty significant brain injuries were likely involved since the autopsy showed that "Benoit's brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient." Another reason would be the death of his best friend Wrestling/EddieGuerrero, which was reportedly something he was never fully able to move on from.

*** Played mostly straight in yet another episode, in which a religious father (clearly based on [[RippedFromTheHeadlines John List]]) decides the world is too sinful and he needs to kill his entire family to save them from sin and send them to Heaven. [[spoiler:He succeeds in killing his wife, his (pregnant) sister-in-law, her husband, and two other people he blamed for the family's supposed downfall, but Goren is able to convince him that he's wrong in time to save the killer's teenage daughter.]]

*** Played mostly straight in yet another episode, in which a religious father decides the world is too sinful and he needs to kill his entire family to save them from sin and send them to Heaven. [[spoiler:He succeeds in killing his wife, his (pregnant) sister-in-law, her husband, and two other people he blamed for the family's supposed downfall, but Goren is able to convince him that he's wrong in time to save the killer's teenage daughter.]]

* [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_R._MacDonald Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald]] was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and their two daughters in 1970. Police grew suspicious of his story that the murders were committed by drug-crazed home invaders when they noticed how minor his injuries were compared to the bludgeoning his wife and daughters received. It's believed his motive was simply he no longer wanted the responsibility of marriage and fatherhood. [=MacDonald=] maintains his innocence to this day. He claims there were four assailants but even though they were supposed to be as high as a kite they did the following: left no traces (be it hair, skin, prints or clothing fibers)[[note]]Jeffrey [=MacDonald=]'s pajama fibers and blood were found everywhere, except where they were supposed to be found, like the living room for the fibers and the hallway for the blood[[/note]], wrote the word 'PIG' with something like latex gloves[[note]] the police found ripped-off fingertips of such a glove, covered in blood and Jeffrey [=MacDonald=]'s blood in front of the cabinet with the same type of gloves [[/note]], stabbed the wife with one knife, but left another knife next to the body [[note]]J. [=MacDonald=] claimed to have pulled the second knife out of his wife's body but the wounds didn't match that knife, but the one found outside did[[/note]], either stabbed the wife while she was wearing her husband's pajama top, undressed her, then put it on the husband or stabbed the wife, then stabbed the husband dozens of times, only wounding him once seriously[[note]]a neat, clean incision[[/note]], and twice superficially [[note]]More likely, [=MacDonald=] was lying about who was wearing the top when and trying to make it look like he was attacked more often, and the ones mentioned are by far not the only discrepancies regarding that top![[/note]], found an ice-pick in the house without making a mess or leaving evidence to stab an already-dead woman with[[note]] after Dr. [=MacDonald=] put his pajama top on her???[[/note]], and also sawed a piece of wood from a mattress slat of one of the beds to club everyone with. If you believe J.R. [=MacDonald=], these are at the same time the most random and the most thorough murder-hippies of all time. Helena Stoeckley was most likely just manipulated into giving a confession, being a handy scapegoat because she was known as a drug-user.[[note]] In what might be the most horrific example ''ever'' of HarsherInHindsight, the above-mentioned Creator/JudithBarsi played one of the murdered [=MacDonald=] children in the MadeForTVMovie based on the incident.[[/note]]

* ''Film/TheOthers'' has a GenderFlipped version: a mother, delirious with isolation and worried sick over her husband's fate in World War II, uses a VorpalPillow on her children, and then, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone in remorse]], a [[BoomHeadshot shotgun]] on herself. [[spoiler:The TwistEnding is that the main characters ''are'' this family, and "the others" they've been dealing with are the still-living people who have since moved into the house.]]

* ''Film/DeathOnDemand'' has [[DeliberatelyMonochrome a black and white]] opening which depicts the then-living killer butchering his wife, mother in-law and two daughters during [[HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday Thanksgiving]] dinner.

** The film also shows Magda Goebbles' murder of her children, which is mentioned in the RealLife section.

* In the backstory of ''Film/{{Madman}}'', the eponymous villain murdered his sleeping family with an ax. A mob tired to hang him for it, but he survived, and now kills anyone who gets his attention.

* In ''{{Film/When a Killer Calls}}'', Richard Hewitt kills his, wife, son and daughter. No motive is given for his actions beyond the implication that he was a closeted psychopath whose sexual assault of his former babysitter Trisha prompted him to finally snap and embark on a sadistic rampage that left himself and a dozen other people dead (He also killed his and his family's friends the Walkers, their daughter (his children's friend), a neighbor of the Walkers, two police officers, Trisha's boyfriend and two other friends of Trisha's before Richard himself was killed by Trisha who shot him with a gun).

* On "Day Five" of ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth'' [[spoiler:John Frobisher was told by the government that he had to "donate" his two children to the aliens known as the 456, so they could be used as living narcotics. Faced with this he takes a gun and shoot shis two children, his wife, then himself.]]

* In the ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth'' miniseries, [[spoiler: civil servant John Frobisher is told that his two daughters must be sacrificed to the invading aliens (leaving the children to a FateWorseThanDeath) in order for the government to save face. He returns home, sends his family to one of the bedrooms, takes a gun and follows them up. [[GoryDiscretionShot The door closes]] and [[TearJerker three gunshots are heard, then a pause followed by a fourth]]. The final [[KickTheDog kicker]] comes from the fact that Torchwood defeats the alien threat a mere few hours later, which means Frobisher did it [[AllForNothing for nothing]].]]

* It's suspected that now-deceased James Matory did this to his wife Earlene Williams and their children [[http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/matory_ivy.html Ivy Matory]], [[http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/matory_violet.html Violet Matory]], and [[http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/williams_yolanda.html Yolanda Marie Williams]], along with a small boy staying over at the Matory/Williams household the evening of Earlene's murder, named [[http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/marshall_sir-kristopher.html Sir-Krisopher Clay Marshall]] (unrelated to the Matory/Williams family). The last time any of the children were seen was with James at a Denny's in the early morning hours of July 19, 1977. They have never been seen again and James was prosecuted for the four children's murders, but the outcome of that trial is unknown.

* On August 14, 2018, [[https://www.google.com/amp/s/people.com/crime/shanann-watts-husband-chris-did-not-believe-cheating/amp/ Christopher Watts]] reported his [[ImperiledInPregnancy pregnant wife]] Shannan and their two daughters missing. By the next day, he was under arrest, having confessed to murdering all three, though he later changed his story to claim that '''''she''''' killed the girls and that he then killed her in a rage over her actions before admitting that his original statement was the truth.

** Another example from Finnish music is ''Murheellisten laulujen maa'' ("Land of sorrowful songs", a play on the country's nickname of "Land of a thousand lakes"), which tells of a man who doesn't want to be like his fathers before him, refusing to drink alcohol and beat his family. However, [[RealityEnsues he is unable to get a job to support his family]], which eventually leads him to hit the bottle after all, and the song ends with him [[AnAxeToGrind murdering his family on their snowy yard with an ax.]] The last verse then [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on [[SelfDeprecatingHumor how many popular Finnish songs are based on depressing subject matters like this]] (and before you ask, yes, ''Murheellisten laulujen maa'' is indeed rather popular in Finland).

* [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_R._MacDonald Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald]] was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and their two daughters in 1970. Police grew suspicious of his story that the murders were committed by drug-crazed home invaders when they noticed how minor his injuries were compared to the bludgeoning his wife and daughters received. It's believed his motive was simply he no longer wanted the responsibility of marriage and fatherhood. [=MacDonald=] maintains his innocence to this day. He claims there were four assailants but even though they were supposed to be as high as a kite they did the following:
** left no traces (be it hair, skin, prints or clothing fibers)[[note]]Jeffrey [=MacDonald=]'s pajama fibers and blood were found everywhere, except where they were supposed to be found, like the living room for the fibers and the hallway for the blood[[/note]], write the word 'PIG' with something like latex gloves[[note]] the police found ripped-off fingertips of such a glove, covered in blood and Jeffrey [=MacDonald=]'s blood in front of the cabinet with the same type of gloves [[/note]] stab the wife with one knife, but leave next to the body another knife [[note]]J. [=MacDonald=] claimed to have pulled the second knife out of his wife's body but the wounds didn't match that knife, but the one found outside did[[/note]], either stab the wife while she was wearing her husband's pajama top, undress her, then put it on the husband or stab the wife, then stab the husband dozens of times, only wounding him once seriously[[note]] a neat, clean incision[[/note]], and twice superficially [[note]] More likely, [=MacDonald=] was lying about who was wearing the top when and trying to make it look like he was attacked more often, and the ones mentioned are by far not the only discrepancies regarding that top![[/note]], found an ice-pick in the house without making a mess or leave evidence to stab an already-dead woman with[[note]] after Dr. [=MacDonald=] put his pajama top on her???[[/note]] and also sawed a piece of wood from a mattress slat of one of the beds to club everyone with. If you believe J.R. [=MacDonald=], these are at the same time the most random and the most thorough murder-hippies of all time. Helena Stoeckley was most likely just manipulated into giving a confession, being a handy scapegoat because she was known as a drugs user.[[note]] In what might be the most horrific example ''ever'' of HarsherInHindsight, the above-mentioned Creator/JudithBarsi played one of the murdered [=MacDonald=] children in the MadeForTVMovie based on the incident.[[/note]]

* Alec Trevelyan's backstory in ''Film/{{Goldeneye}}'' had his father kill his mother and himself so that they wouldn't have to live with the shame of having survived the Soviet purge of the Lienz Cossacks. The Lienz Cossacks were betrayed by the British government, who turned them over to Stalin for working with the Nazis.

* Alec Trevelyan's backstory in ''Film/{{Goldeneye}}'' has his father kill his mother and himself so that they won't have to live with the shame of having survived the Soviet purge of Lienz Cossacks.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_family_murders Jennifer and Sarah Hart]], who made a reputation on social media as the perfect blended family (Jennifer and Sarah were white, while the six children that they adopted, Markis, Hannah, Devonte, Abigail, Jeremiah, and Sierra, were black), drove their GMC Yukon off a cliff on California's Highway 1 with the six children in question tied up and drugged in the backseat on March 26, 2018, leaving no survivors. In the aftermath of the tragedy, it was revealed that Jennifer had been abusing the children for years[[note]]though the children were living with both women, most of the abuse is attributed to Jennifer, although Sarah carries some blame for [[UselessBystanderParent standing by and letting it happen]][[/note]] and that the family was evading child services by moving repeatedly; when it began to look like they would no longer be able to evade them, they killed the children and themselves rather than deal with the fallout.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_family_murders Jennifer and Sarah Hart]], who made a reputation on social media as the perfect blended family (Jennifer and Sarah were white, while the six children that they adopted, Markis, Hannah, Devonte, Abigail, Jeremiah, and Sierra, were black), drove their GMC Yukon off a cliff on California's Highway 1 with the children in question tied up and drugged in the backseat on March 26, 2018, leaving no survivors. In the aftermath of the tragedy, it was revealed that Jennifer had been abusing the children for years[[note]]though the children were living with both women, most of the abuse is attributed to Jennifer, although Sarah carries some blame for [[UselessBystanderParent standing by and letting it happen]][[/note]] and that the family was evading child services by moving repeatedly; when it began to look like they would no longer be able to evade them, they killed the children and themselves rather than deal with the fallout.

* Jennifer and Sarah Hart, who made a reputation on social media as the perfect blended family (Jennifer and Sarah were white, while the six children they adopted, Markis, Hannah, Devonte, Abigail, Jeremiah, and Sierra, were black), are believed to have intentionally driven their GMC Yukon off a cliff on California's Highway 1 with the children in question tied up and drugged in the backseat on March 26, 2018, leaving no survivors. In the aftermath of the tragedy, it was revealed that Jennifer had been abusing the children for years[[note]]though the children were living with both women, most of the abuse is attributed to Jennifer, although Sarah carries some blame for [[UselessBystanderParent standing by and letting it happen]][[/note]] and that the family was evading child services by moving repeatedly; when it began to look like they would no longer be able to evade them, they killed the children and themselves rather than deal with the fallout.

** left no traces (be it hair, skin, prints or clothing fibers)[[note]]Jeffrey [=MacDonald=]'s pajama fibers and blood were found everywhere, except where they were supposed to be found, like the living room for the fibers and the hallway for the blood[[/note]], write the word 'PIG' with something like latex gloves[[note]] the police found ripped-off fingertips of such a glove, covered in blood and Jeffrey [=MacDonald=]'s blood in front of the cabinet with the same type of gloves [[/note]] stab the wife with one knife, but leave next to the body another knife [[note]]J. [=MacDonald=] claimed to have pulled the second knife out of his wife's body but the wounds didn't match that knife, but the one found outside did[[/note]], either stab the wife while she was wearing her husband's pajama top, undress her, then put it on the husband or stab the wife, then stab the husband dozens of times, only wounding him once seriously[[note]] a neat, clean incision[[/note]], and twice superficially [[note]] More likely, [=MacDonald=] was lying about who was wearing the top when and trying to make it look like he was attacked more often, and the ones mentioned are by far not the only discrepancies regarding that top![[/note]], found an ice-pick in the house without making a mess or leave evidence to stab an already-dead woman with[[note]] after Dr. [=MacDonald=] put his pajama top on her???[[/note]] and also sawed a piece of wood from a mattress slat of one of the beds to club everyone with. If you believe J.R. [=MacDonald=], these are at the same time the most random and the most thorough murder-hippies of all time. Helena Stoeckley was most likely just manipulated into giving a confession, being a handy scapegoat because she was known as a drugs user.[[note]] In what might be the most horrific example ''ever'' of HarsherInHindsight, the above-mentioned Creator/JudithBarsi played one of the murdered [=MacDonald=] children in the MadeForTVMovie based on the incident. [[/note]]

* Jennifer and Sarah Hart, who made a reputation on social media for being the perfect blended family, are believed to have intentionally driven their GMC Yukon off a cliff on California's Highway 1 with their six adopted children, Markis, Hannah, Devonte, Abigail, Jeremiah, and Sierra, tied up and drugged in the backseat on March 26, 2018, leaving no survivors. In the aftermath of the tragedy, it was revealed that Jennifer had been abusing the children for years[[note]]though the children were living with both women, most of the abuse is attributed to Jennifer, although Sarah carries some blame for [[UselessBystanderParent standing by and letting it happen]][[/note]] and that the family was evading child services by moving repeatedly; when it began to look like they would no longer be able to evade them, they killed the children and themselves rather than deal with the fallout.