Family annihilators "are driven to kill their family for a number of reasons," Garrett said. "Many times it's for financial problems. And the belief is that men, in particular, ...

Annihilators are overwhelmingly male (95 percent, he estimates), and mostly white and middle-aged. They feel inadequate as men and have often suffered childhood abuse.

Most so-called family annihilators are men, Berrill said — Websdale estimates that 95 percent of perpetrators are male — though they are so rare there has been no real studies on the subject.

The newspaper accounts of 59 cases contained enough information for the researchers to classify family annihilators into four types of men: what they called self-righteous, ...

Most so-called family annihilators are men, Berrill said — Websdale estimates that 95 percent of perpetrators are male — though they are so rare there has been no real studies on the subject.