Can we find a “why” behind family annihilators?

We always want to find “the why,” but often it’s a series of “whys.”

I watch a bunch of true crime, and while this isn’t the best topic to discuss, it’s still an important one. As you might have guessed from the combination of two words, a “family annihilator” is someone who kills their entire family, often including themselves. This is usually done by a man, although there are periodic examples of females throughout history doing it as well. It is literally almost incomprehensible at some level, because “your family” and “your kids” are supposed to be the things you live for. As someone going through infertility right now and being on the other side of the BabyLand gates, it’s virtually impossible to wrap my head around someone who would want to kill their kids.

But unfortunately, it happens. It’s still a very small slice of criminality (good), but there are more examples than you think. Chris Watts (pictured) is kinda the pre-eminent example of the last few years, at least in the U.S., and he’s gotten a Netflix special, about 100 other specials, etc. (Do we deify these guys a bit too much? That’s another topic.) There are some other bad and lesser-known ones, though, including: