MATRICIDE

Matricide is the act of killing one's mother. As for any type of killing, motives can vary a great deal.

Known or suspected matricides

* Cleopatra III of Egypt was assassinated in 101 BC by order of her son, Ptolemy X, for her conspiring.

* Ptolemy XI of Egypt had his wife, Berenice III, murdered shortly after their wedding in 80 BC. She was also his stepmother, or perhaps his mother.

* In AD 59, the Roman Emperor Nero is said to have ordered the murder of his mother Agrippina the Younger, supposedly because she was conspiring against him.

* Mary Ann Lamb, the mentally ill sister of essayist Charles Lamb, killed their invalid mother during an episode of mania in 1796.

* Sidney Fox, a British man killed his mother in 1929 to gain from her insurance policy. [1] He was convicted and hanged the following year.

* The Parker-Hulme murder case of 1954. This case was chronicled in the film Heavenly Creatures.

* Jack Gilbert Graham killed his mother along with 44 people by planting a dynamite bomb in his mother's suitcase, that was subsequently loaded aboard United Airlines Flight 629 in 1955.

* John Emil List murdered his mother, wife and his three children on November 9, 1971. He was a fugitive for 18 years. He was apprehended on June 1, 1989 after an episode of "Americas Most Wanted" aired. On May 1, 1990 he was sentenced to 5 life terms in prison.

* Serial killer Edmund Kemper beat his mother to death in 1973, along with one of his mother's friends before turning himself in to the police. He had previously committed half-a-dozen sex-murders. Kemper had been psychologically abused by his domineering mother in his youth.

* Ronald DeFeo, Jr. killed his parents and his four siblings in what would later become known as "The Amityville Horror House" (1974)

* Bradford Bishop bludgeoned his mother, spouse and three children to death in 1976. He was indicted for murders and remains at large.

* Susan Cabot, 1950s actress, was beaten to death in 1986 at her Hollywood home by her son Timothy Roman. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

* Brett Reider, a 15-year-old boy in Omaha, Nebraska, stabbed his mother to death during a dispute in 1993. He was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced as an adult to 11-20 years. In 1996, his older sister, Alissa Reider made an HBO documentary: "Brett Killed Mom: a sister's diary", claiming both of them suffered years of constant verbal and physical abuse from their mother. Brett was released in 1999.[citation needed]

* Luke Woodham, Mississippi resident who killed his mother in June of 1997, and currently serving a life sentence at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

* Dipendra of Nepal (1971-2001) reportedly massacred much of his family at a royal dinner on June 1, 2001, including his mother Queen Aiswarya, father, brother, and sister.

* Dr. I. Kathleen Hagen, a prominent urologist, killed her mother and her father in August of 2000 and was acquitted on the grounds of insanity.

* Brittany Norris, a 14 year old living in Lemoore California, shot and killed her mother and mother's boyfriend in April of 2006.

* Yukio Yamaji, a 16 year old living in Japan, killed his mother in 2000. After his release, he raped and murdered 2 sisters and was sentenced to the death penalty.

* Erika di Nardo killed her mother and brother in 2001. See Novi Ligure Murder

Matricides in fiction

* In Greek mythology, Orestes murdered his mother Clytemnestra to avenge her participation in the killing of his father, Agamemnon.

* In Babylonian legend, the supreme god Marduk slew his mother Tiamet by cutting her in half with a great sword.

* In Greek mythology, Alcmaeon killed his mother Eriphyle. She had coerced her husband Amphiaraus into participating in the Seven Against Thebes expedition, during which he was killed.

* In the animated comedy Family Guy, Stewie Griffin attempts to murder his mother Lois countless times, to humorous effect.

* In the book and film Psycho, matricide is an underlying plot as the character Norman Bates murdered his mother and then developed Dissociative identity disorder, pretending to be his mother to relieve the guilt of murdering her.

* In the Stephen King novel The Gunslinger, Roland of Gilead admits he is a matricide. Later books expound on the subject.