According to CBS News, on average, about five parents are killed by their biological children every week in the United States, including matricide (the killing of one’s mother) and patricide (the killing one’s father).
Both are pretty rare relative to the thousands of individuals arrested every year for murder cases. Parricide makes about 2 percent of all reported homicides, in which the victim-offender relationship is known, in the country.
A common defense argument is an act of self-defense against abusive parents. Children or adolescents are more likely to kill (than adults) to end the abuse. But it does not mean other causes are nonexistent.
Just recently, a Las Vegas teenage girl Sierra Halseth (16), and her boyfriend, Aaron Guerrero (18), took the life of the former’s father, Daniel Halseth (45), because they believed he stood in the way of their relationship.
Within only four days of the murder, the couple was arrested while trying to flee to Los Angeles. In the state of Nevada, a juvenile accused of murder is charged and tried as an adult.
10 /10 Cover-Up Arson
On Friday afternoon of April 9, 2021, officers and firefighters from the Las Vegas Fire and Rescue responded to a report of cardiac arrest at around 2:15 p.m. in the 8400 Block of Dunphy Court.
When the crews entered the home, they discovered a white male believed to be in his 40s, deceased inside.
Based on evidence found at the scene, the man had been killed before another person started a fire, which attempted to conceal a murder crime scene, according to the preliminary investigation.
9 /10 Severe Burn And Stab Wounds
The Clark County Coroner’s Office identified the man as Daniel Halseth from Las Vegas. Sharp force injuries ruled the cause of death.
Daniel Halseth was the ex-husband of former Nevada state senator Elizabeth Halseth, who has since remarried and now goes by Elizabeth Helgelien.
An autopsy report revealed the numerous wounds inflicted on him, including 70 sharp force injuries (most were on the head, neck, and torso).
His body had also been almost entirely burned. According to authorities, Daniel Halseth was murdered at the hands of his daughter and her boyfriend.