Criminologist: Cases Of Children Killing Parents Go Against The Norm

Several Oklahomans are currently accused of killing their parents.

Criminologists said crimes involving children killing their parents are rare, yet some studies show those crimes are on the rise.

“It's difficult to think that our children would kill us,” said Howard Kurtz, Sociology and Criminal Justice associate professor at Southwest Oklahoma State University.

Kurtz said four recent Oklahoma homicide cases involving children accused of killing their parents go against the norm.

“It's much more likely that a parent would kill their child than a child kill their parent,” Kurtz said.

The latest case is Christian Costello, accused of stabbing his father to death at an Oklahoma City Braum’s.

8/25/2015 Related Story: Bond Denied For Man Accused Of Killing Father, Who Was State Labor Commissioner

Labor Commissioner Mark Costello was there to talk to Christian Costello after an argument earlier that day.

Jonathan Grafton was arrested after the shooting deaths of his father and an off-duty Sapulpa police officer earlier this month.

8/17/2015 Related Story: Homicide Suspects In Jail After Being On The Run

Midwest City police said Grafton stole his dad's pickup and shot both men when they came for it.

In Broken Arrow, 18-year-old Robert and 16-year-old Michael Bever are accused of killing their parents and three siblings.

8/20/2015 Related Story: More Documents Released In Bever Family Murders

Court documents state those murders weren't spontaneous, but planned out in detail.

Last October, investigators in Duncan said Alan Hruby killed his parents and sister in the family home.

11/20/2014 Related Story: New Details Revealed In The Murder Of Hruby Family In Duncan

Investigators said the parents were cutting off Hruby financially and he got mad.

Kurtz said what shocks him is the level of violence in those cases, especially when knives were used.

“When people use a knife, they have to get right up with someone, they have to get close and personal with them,” Kurtz told News 9.  “A lot of times, there is a lot of anger involved in it."

There are three theories criminologists apply to crimes like these: the child has a mental health issue, the child was being abused or the child was born a sociopath.

“In all these cases, if you could sit down both with the children and the surviving parents and find out, what went wrong, if something went wrong at all,” Kurtz said.

The suspects in all these cases are male.

Kurtz said statistics show males commit more crimes than females.