<p>Or by parents who couldn’t afford to feed another mouth.</p>
<p>Well, the idea that Peters covered up her problems from everyone is simply not true.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>She appears to have been hiding it from her daughter and engaging in questionable charges at work several of which related to clothes for her daughter and perhaps the graduation gift car.</p>
<p>Peters seemed willing to ask for help from the beginning and from others, but not willing to let her daughter react to not being able to go to college even to the point of killing her rather than telling her the truth.</p>
<p>Perhaps the reason no one spotted signs of her mental illness was that she wasn’t mentally ill. Isn’t that a possibility?</p>
<p>I think the length of time that the mother’s deception had gone on is significant. The financial problems had grown out of control over time - but we all know the amount of family time that revolves around college application/planning. This had to be an intense year of make believe.</p>
<p>I don’t buy that the daughter wasn’t dealing with loss and moving on with her life - everything her friends say about college plans inidicate otherwise. That her mother went to the trouble of getting a rental car as a graduation gift says a lot about the emphasis she places on the appearance of things.</p>
<p>I think Mom had lost touch with reality to such a degree and had been living a double life for so long and loved her pretend life so much more than the reality she couldn’t face giving it up. When the daughter is finally packed she can no longer continue the lie; she kills the daughter and returns the rental car. She waits an entire day before killing herself? I think her first plan was to kill the daughter and either make it look like something else or dispose of the body and pretend her daughter was off at college. The delay in killing herself IMO indicates that she hadn’t yet thought through the next step - she had simply been forced to stop the daughter from exposing the fantasy. She wanted to protect the image that others have of her and so she fabricated a suicide note about both of them never recovering from the loss of her husband. She created a more socially acceptable story, but her actions tell me that she was working on other potential options up until the final decision to kill herself.</p>
<p>Think about all the kids on CC who wait for magical tuition funds to come and save them even though their financial aid letters indicate there is no way to pay for the expensive college they’ve been accepted at - many of them live in a fantasy world for weeks or months telling everyone that they will attend dream school X. In this story the mother had an elaborate fantasy in which her daughter would attend her dream school (I suspect the switch from TCU to UT helped her continue the fantasy because the larger school would be less inclined to give lots of personal attention, more of a mass mailing kind of relationship) and she was able to give her daughter expensive presents in her fantasy life and maintain the big family home.</p>
<p>The mother perpetuated and maintained the fantasy with occassional visits to reality (getting the rental car, hiding the rental car paperwork) and only came to the end of her rope when the number of variables that she needed to control exceeded her ability to manage the necessary details and slip back into the fantasy. The fact that people described her as “perky” indicates to me how fully she was engaged in her role playing.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>To me, someone who is physically healthy, but commits suicide, is by definition mentally ill. Mentally healthy people don’t do it.</p>
<p>bchan – very thought provoking post. </p>
<p>I suppose the question in my mind is – how does it get to that point? Where murder becomes more acceptable than admitting, I lied, I’m broke, I need help, etc.</p>
<p>I looked at different motivations for suicide. One standard motivation is suicide after murder to escape punishment. I can see how that is quite “sane” where there is life in prison with no chance of parole as a possible punishment. Also, child killers often have a very rough time in prison.</p>
<p>That fits what we have as facts so far. Peters didn’t just kill Corrine and then stick the gun to her own head and pull the trigger. Looks like she did mull it over for a day. And, Peters had shown that she didn’t want to get caught by the City since she had slow walked getting the documentation of her expenses charged to the City.</p>
<p>Life in prison a la Darlie who was convicted when the jury bought that she killed because the kids held her and her husband back from the life she wanted probably did not look real appealing after being the Mayor of Coppell, 3800 square feet house etc. “Perky” may be hard to maintain in prison.</p>
<p>Coming late to this thread, without much to add except I agree with Dad07’s last post. This seems like a case of murder with suicide as an after thought. We could speculate forever about the motives.</p>
<p>Some mothers really are jealous of the options their daughters have when they feel bereft. My mom was (is) like this. But obviously I’m projecting, and that’s just one obvious scenario.</p>
<p>The 24 hours, concern for the dogs and return of the car all show someone still somewhat engaged in life, and perhaps she was looking for a solution and then became overwhelmed and gave up.</p>
<p>Speaking to this not being a new phenomenon, my S has been working extremely hard on research for one of his profs who is writing a book of Seneca and his MEDEA, much like Euripides MEDEA. The ancient Greeks had many thoughts about mothers killing children (and children killing mothers and fathers, Orestes and Oedipus) and then the Romans followed suit.</p>
<p>In the photos the young woman looks very engaged in life.</p>
<p>The length of the college deception is chilling, and however that mind was structured, I think it’s impossible for relatively healthy people to understand.</p>
<p>One of the unfortunate things about mental illness and impaired judgment is that the thinking patterns seem perfectly rational to the thinker.</p>
<p>I lived many years with an H with irrational thinking patterns. He is just now beginning to recover. Sadly, his surety of his faulty conclusions was greater than mine for my accurate conclusions. It’s part of the disease, the certainty and belief in these faulty conclusions.</p>
<p>So, in answer to the title of thread, no, it obviously wasn’t just fear of empty nest syndrome as so many have already said, but I <em>do</em> think that empty nest syndrome does account for a lot of anxiety and sadness in many mothers and even some fathers. This is especially true when financial factors come into play. </p>
<p>I don’t think our society is doing a good job with this.</p>
<p>^^^No, we’re not. Another Texas incident:</p>
<p>[Hospital</a> Says Mom Tried To Kill 4-Month-Old - cbs11tv.com](<a href=“http://cbs11tv.com/local/cook.childrens.shantaniqua.2.1815731.html]Hospital”>http://cbs11tv.com/local/cook.childrens.shantaniqua.2.1815731.html)</p>
<p>Nrdsb4–that mother explained that she just “wanted her life back.”</p>
<p>Another recent Texas murdering mom recently got life in prison. [Mother</a> kills children calmly calls 911 (Listen to actual 911 call)](<a href=“http://www.examiner.com/x-32274-Shreveport-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m5d27-Mother-kills-children-calmly-calls-911-Listen-to-actual-911-call]Mother”>http://www.examiner.com/x-32274-Shreveport-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m5d27-Mother-kills-children-calmly-calls-911-Listen-to-actual-911-call)</p>
<p>They now have interviews with the Avis guy. In very early July he spoke with Peters who promised to return the car on July 12th! Seems Peters already had her daughter’s murder date planned that far in advance. He said that the key for the Avis car lacked the Avis badged key ring when he found it on the lot on July 12th. He said that was surprising since he usually only saw that when young males used the rental as a trick “ride” to impress a date.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Isn’t that incredible? I wonder what percentage of cases in which a parent murders a child are planned in detail in advance (vs. “crimes of passion”). I bet almost none of them. I have already confessed to thinking “a mom must be mentally ill to kill her own child.” But I don’t even know how to fill in the blank in, “a mom must be ____ to plan the murder of her child in advance and carry it out in precise detail.”</p>
<p>I feel bad for the people who went to their memorial service, who must have felt so sorry for both of them. I bet they wish they had a do-over, so they could mourn the D separately.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>In a local news report, that subject did come up. It said many of Corinne’s friends felt very ambivalent about attending a joint funeral and “celebrating” the life of their friend’s murderer. Most of the kids were trying to be respectful of the family’s decision to have a joint funeral, but it was clear that many of them were struggling with it.</p>
<p>"They now have interviews with the Avis guy. In very early July he spoke with Peters who promised to return the car on July 12th! Seems Peters already had her daughter’s murder date planned that far in advance. "</p>
<p>All of this makes sense to me, and reflects mental illness. When people decide to commit suicide, they can be very logical about the details in terms of the timing, and similar things. At the same time, they are operating with distorted thinking – that suicide is the best way to handle their situation, and even that they are helping others by killing themselves.</p>
<p>From the mother’s sick viewpoint, she was allowing her daughter to be happy as long as possible as the daughter anticipated going off to college.</p>
<p>The mother didn’t hate her daughter. She loved her daughter and thought she was protecting her daughter from the grief and shame of being parentless and destitute.</p>
<p>The mother looked for a moment to shoot the daughter when the daughter would have no idea what the mother was doing, so the daughter would die with the happy anticipation of going to college, not spend her last seconds in fear and confusion.</p>
<p>I imagine that the mom was happy when she returned the rental car and did whatever final things she did in the hours after shooting the daughter. And I do suspect that the mom thoughtfully was cleaning the house and doing other things to make it easier for people who’d have to prepare for the funeral and investigate the deaths.</p>
<p>The mom thought she had done a good thing and was preparing to do another good thing – to kill herself. </p>
<p>This is what it means to be mentally ill.</p>
<p>The fact that there was a seemingly long preparation for this tragedy does not necessarily mean the mother wasn’t mentally ill. Rather it could be an indicator of just how seriously ill she was- to go through that amount of time with distorted and delusional thinking- all the while thinking that death was the right answer. If that isn’t mentally ill- I don’t know what is.</p>
<p>Oh, now I see NSM’s post- we agree again.</p>
<p>Premeditated murder=mentally ill “compassion?” </p>
<p>As missypie indicates, would you ever buy this for a dad?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,321486,00.html[/url]”>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,321486,00.html</a></p>
<p>I guess we need to consider if this dad was mentally ill and delusional in thinking that his daughters needed to die rather than continue going astray?</p>
<p>"As missypie indicates, would you ever buy this for a dad? "</p>
<p>It would depend on the situation. In general, the cases in which dads murder their families usually are dads with a history of domestic violence who kill their kids as ways of taking revenge on their estranged or soon to be estranged partner.</p>
<p>If it’s a murder-suicide, the dad typically kills himself, his wife and the kids after the mom threatens to leave him. </p>
<p>The dads’ behavior seems fueled by anger and revenge, not some kind of twisted paternal love.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard of, for instance, a destitute, single parent dad, who committed suicide and killed his kids out of some idea that was protecting them in some way. These cases probably do happen, but far more dads obviously kill their kids out of anger and revenge.</p>
<p>Susan Smith – who drowned her 2 young sons so to up her chances of remaining in an affair – is an example of a homicidal mom whose behavior I’ve never seen anyone attribute to mental illness. </p>
<p>A quick Google revealed these cases of fathers killing children, and support my thesis.</p>
<p>" father killed his eight-year-old son and two teenage stepchildren in a house fire after he drunkenly accused his wife of flirting with a taxi driver, a court heard today.</p>
<p>Kevin Hargreaves, 38, flew into a rage at the children’s mother when they returned home and then attempted to set himself alight with petrol, the court was told. …"
[Father</a> ‘killed children in blaze rage’ - Crime, UK - The Independent](<a href=“Father 'killed children in blaze rage' | The Independent | The Independent”>Father 'killed children in blaze rage' | The Independent | The Independent)</p>
<p>"STANTON, Mich. —
The mother of a 9-year-old boy killed by his abusive father in a 2007 murder-suicide is suing, claiming child welfare workers failed to remove him from his father’s home despite a prosecutor’s warnings.</p>
<p>Rebecca Jasinski, of Saginaw County, contends that her son, Nicholas Braman, could have been saved if the state had removed him from his father’s home in Montcalm County, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this month in federal court in Grand Rapids.</p>
<p>Oliver Braman killed himself, his wife and Nicholas by filling a room with carbon monoxide nearly three years ago. Their deaths came days after Oliver Braman failed to appear in court for sentencing in a child abuse case in which he was convicted of using a cattle prod to discipline two other sons. "
[Mother</a> of Mich. boy slain by father sues state - chicagotribune.com](<a href=“Chicago News - Chicago Tribune - Chicago Tribune”>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-boysdeath-lawsui,0,7027514.story)</p>
<p>"teven Acuna was a child of domestic violence, and it so affected him that as a teenager he volunteered at the Marjaree Mason Center to help other kids from abusive environments, friends said Tuesday.</p>
<p>Steven Acuna, 20, and his mother, Gloria Acuna, 50, were gunned down July 13 by Steven’s father Robert Acuna Sr., 51, in northwest Fresno. Robert Acuna, who had been estranged from his wife for a little more than a year, then turned the gun on himself.</p>
<p>“Stevie was very much aware of the impact of violence on children,” attorney Lenore Schreiber said at a news conference called to announce funeral services for the two.</p>
<p>While police said last week that Robert Acuna had not been previously physically violent toward other family members, Schreiber said Gloria Acuna had long been a target of stalking and terrorist threats.</p>
<p>Read more: [Fresnans</a> slain by father remembered - Afternoon’s top stories - fresnobee.com](<a href=“http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/20/2012665/friends-pay-tribute-to-slain-acunas.html#ixzz0uKny5FyY]Fresnans”>http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/07/20/2012665/friends-pay-tribute-to-slain-acunas.html#ixzz0uKny5FyY)</p>
<p>“Coming late to this thread, without much to add except I agree with Dad07’s last post. This seems like a case of murder with suicide as an after thought. We could speculate forever about the motives.”</p>
<p>Not at all. Seems like a clear cut case of a planned murder and suicide. </p>
<p>Just because the mother killed herself the next day doesn’t mean that she hadn’t always planned to kill herself just as she did.</p>
<p>If she had just planned to murder her daughter, presumably she also would have planned some way of disposing of her daughter’s body.</p>
<p>Sexism?</p>
<p>[Distraught</a> Father Kills Wife, 5 Kids, Self - AOL Black Voices](<a href=“http://www.blackvoices.com/newsarticle/_a/distraught-father-kills-wife-5-kids-self/20090128015709990001]Distraught”>http://www.blackvoices.com/newsarticle/_a/distraught-father-kills-wife-5-kids-self/20090128015709990001)</p>
<p>[Man</a> distraught over money problems kills wife, son, himself | The Columbus Dispatch](<a href=“http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/02/18/3murder.html]Man”>http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/02/18/3murder.html)</p>
<p>[blackfolk:</a> Father kills his son execution style for molesting his sister](<a href=“http://community.livejournal.com/blackfolk/7811037.html]blackfolk:”>Father kills his son execution style for molesting his sister - Blackfolks — LiveJournal)</p>
<p>[Police:</a> ‘Despondent’ father kills his wife, children, then self - USATODAY.com](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-01-27-murder-suicide_N.htm]Police:”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-01-27-murder-suicide_N.htm)</p>
<p>Dad07, I don’t have a problem believing those men were mentally ill.</p>
<p>I do believe, however, that probably the majority of times that kids are killed by their father, their fathers are not mentally ill – except perhaps being psychopaths – and are killing the kids out of revenge or anger, typically at the kids’ mother, who is threatening to leave the man.</p>
<p>Often the men have had a prior history of perpetrating domestic violence.</p>
<p>Such men are similar to the women who batter their kids to death after abusing their kids previously while intoxicated, high or enraged. I view such women differently than I view Andrea Yeager who systematically drowned her kids. I believe that Andrea Yeager was suffering a severe post partum depression.</p>
<p>Gentle correction, NSM - you mean Andrea Yates.</p>
<p>Andrea Yeager is a former teen tennis phenom who became a nun.</p>
<p>Oh, yes, Andrea Yates. Thanks for the correction and info about Andrea Yeager.</p>