S8: The Decision to Kill: A True Crime Story of a Teenage Killer and the Mother Who Loved Him

My special guest tonight is author Leslie Ghiglieri who's here to discuss her new book called The Decision To Kill: A True Crime Story of a Teenage Killer and the Mother Who Loved Him.         In the early morning of October 18, 1986, Cherie Wier’s life collapses when her teenage son takes the life of her beloved husband. For years, Cherie grapples with events preceding and following the crime, struggling to overcome the consuming grief she suffers from her loss and the difficulty she faces as she attempts to forgive her son. The courtroom accounts of gruesome details and the shocking testimonies from experts, only add to Cherie’s yearning to make sense of the crime. She is tormented, wanting to know how and WHY this tragedy happened and if there was anything she could have done to prevent it . . .     Parricide refers to the deliberate killing of one’s own father and mother, spouse (husband or wife), children, and/or close relative. However, the term is sometimes used more generally to refer to the intentional killing of a near relative.[1] It is an umbrella term that can be used to refer to acts of matricide and patricide.  Matricide refers to the deliberate killing of one’s own mother.[2] Patricide refers to the deliberate killing of one’s own father.[3] The term parricide is also used to refer to many familicides (i.e. family annihilations wherein at least one parent is murdered along with other family members).  Societies consider parricide a serious crime and parricide offenders are subject to criminal prosecution under the homicide laws which are established in places (i.e. countries, states, etc.) in which parricides occur. According to the law, in most countries, an adult who is convicted of parricide faces a long-term prison sentence, a life sentence, or even capital punishment. Youthful parricide offenders who are younger than the age of majority (e.g. 18 year olds in the United States) may be prosecuted under less stringent laws which are designed to take their special needs and development into account but these laws are usually waived and as a result, most youthful parricide offenders are transferred into the Adult Judicial System.[4]  Parricide offenders are typically divided into two categories, 1) youthful parricide offenders (i.e. ages 8–24) and 2) adult parricide offenders (i.e. ages 25 and older) because the motivations and situations surrounding parricide events change as a child matures.[5]     As per the Parricide Prevention Institute, approximately 2–3% of all U.S. murders were parricides each year since 2010.[6] The more than 300 parricides occurring in just the U.S. each year means there are 6 or more parricide events, on average, each week. This estimate does not include the murders of grandparents or stepparents by a child – only the murders of their natal or legally adoptive parents.[7     Youthful parricide is motivated by a variety of factors. Current research conducted by the Parricide Prevention Institute indicates the top five motives causing a child (aged 8–24 years old) to commit parricide are:[6]   issues of control - 38% (e.g. put on restriction, phone taken away, etc.); issues of money - 10% (access to life insurance, wants money for a party, etc.); stop abuse of self or family - 8%; fit of anger - 8%; wants a different life - 7% (e.g. wants to live with non-custodial pa

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