[Murder without a body or "just" an unusual case of child abuse?].

TY - JOUR

T1 - [Murder without a body or "just" an unusual case of child abuse?].

AU - Görndt, Jennifer

AU - Püschel, Klaus

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - A nine-year old boy was placed in a foster family--allegedly because of neglect after his mother had died in a car accident. Abnormal behaviour and the discovery of a photograph showing the boy naked from the waist down made the foster mother suspect sexual abuse. When she asked the boy to tell her the truth, the boy dictated a shocking story into her dictating machine. He described in detail how his mother had been killed and dismembered by her life partner in the bathtub with a saw before his eyes. Police investigations showed that the mother was not registered as deceased and that a suspicious neighbour had actually filed reports with the police months before because the man had given different versions on the alleged fatal accident of the mother. When the apartment was searched and evidence was collected, a bow saw with blood stains was found along with dental crowns in the bathtub drain. In spite of the boy's detailed statement where his mother's partner had allegedly disposed of her body parts she was never found. Four years later, a charge for manslaughter was brought against him. The unusual sentence--three years and 10 months' imprisonment for abuse of a person committed to his care-- was decisively influenced by the credibility assessment of the child's statement according to which the description given by the boy was based on a real event he had experienced.

AB - A nine-year old boy was placed in a foster family--allegedly because of neglect after his mother had died in a car accident. Abnormal behaviour and the discovery of a photograph showing the boy naked from the waist down made the foster mother suspect sexual abuse. When she asked the boy to tell her the truth, the boy dictated a shocking story into her dictating machine. He described in detail how his mother had been killed and dismembered by her life partner in the bathtub with a saw before his eyes. Police investigations showed that the mother was not registered as deceased and that a suspicious neighbour had actually filed reports with the police months before because the man had given different versions on the alleged fatal accident of the mother. When the apartment was searched and evidence was collected, a bow saw with blood stains was found along with dental crowns in the bathtub drain. In spite of the boy's detailed statement where his mother's partner had allegedly disposed of her body parts she was never found. Four years later, a charge for manslaughter was brought against him. The unusual sentence--three years and 10 months' imprisonment for abuse of a person committed to his care-- was decisively influenced by the credibility assessment of the child's statement according to which the description given by the boy was based on a real event he had experienced.

KW - Adult

KW - Diagnosis, Differential

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Female

KW - Child

KW - jurisprudence

KW - Blood Stains

KW - Child Abuse, Sexual legislation

KW - Expert Testimony legislation

KW - Homicide legislation

KW - Spouse Abuse legislation

KW - Adult

KW - Diagnosis, Differential

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Female

KW - Child

KW - jurisprudence

KW - Blood Stains

KW - Child Abuse, Sexual legislation

KW - Expert Testimony legislation

KW - Homicide legislation

KW - Spouse Abuse legislation

M3 - SCORING: Zeitschriftenaufsatz

VL - 226

SP - 99

EP - 106

JO - Arch Kriminol

JF - Arch Kriminol

SN - 0003-9225

IS - 3-4

M1 - 3-4

ER -