Taking two lives

Written by Sarah Hau

Lance Cpl. Maria Frances Lauterbach’s body and that of her unborn son were discovered, buried in the backyard of Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando – the man she had accused of rape.

This latest murder of a pregnant woman is just one of many that have been in the news in recent years. Everyone remembers the high profile case of Laci Peterson who disappeared Christmas Eve 2002. Her husband Scott was found guilty of murder and sentences to death.

There is no way of telling how many happen each year because most states do not have a system in place to track maternal homicide trends. "A year-long examination [in 2004] by The Washington Post of death-record data in states across the US documents the killing of 1,367 pregnant women and new mothers since 1990." (www.washingtonpost.com)

Though researchers are trying to make sense of what might be a growing trend, there seems to be no common thread among the victims besides pregnancy. The homicides collected by The Washington Post included a college student, a minister’s wife, an Army captain, an actress, an imigrant housekeeper. They happened in the suburbs, mountain villages, urban neighborhoods. More than 100 were teenagers and many others already had children.

What would cause someone to kill a pregnant woman and her unborn child? ABC News says the motive depends on the gender of the attacker.

" Men who kill pregnant women are most likely romantically involved with their victims and see the pregnancy and unborn child as obstacles and burdens in their lives. They may not want the child, may want to pursue an extramarital affair or may want to keep an affair secret."

"Unlike men, women who attack pregnant women usually do not know their victims well, if at all. They are usually obsessed with pregnancy and crave the attention – and what they perceive as power – associated with carrying a child." (abcnews.go.com)

What do you think? What would motivate someone to kill a woman and her unborn child? Do you think this violent crime is on the rise? How do you think this affects the public’s perception of pregnancy and motherhood?

2 Responses to “Taking two lives”

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Sarah says:

February 13, 2008 at 9:46 am

Can you believe the selfishness it takes to commit an act like that? I cannot fathom deciding, “I’m not getting enough attention and I have to spend so much energy on these little lives… I think the solution is to beat them to death”. What has to happen inside your head to come to this point? It makes me think about my own capability for violence. Do you think, as humans, any one of us could be capable of horrific acts of violence? Are those of us who have never committed acts like this “better people”?
Leah says:

February 13, 2008 at 9:27 am

Another epidemic is when fathers or boyfriends kill their girlfriends children because they feel the children are getting in the way and they are not getting enough attention from their girlfriend. I can’t understand how someone can do that. It’s not like they don’t know what kind of relationship they are getting into at the beginning.