Bad People

40. Hungry like the Wolf: Can we ever understand filicide?

In 1983 Diane Downs carries her three small children into a hospital in Oregon, all suffering from gunshot wounds.The mother explains that she had been the victim of an attempted carjacking, but managed to trick her attacker and escape. However, not long after, the police’s attention turns towards her as a potential suspect. What could lead a mother to harm her own children? In this episode of Bad People, presenters Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen discuss the topic of familicide and Julia shares her own family’s close encounter. Warning: This episode includes descriptions of murder and possibly some strong language.CREDITS
Presenters: Dr Julia Shaw and Sofie Hagen
Producer: Simona RataMusic: Matt Chandler
Editor: Rami Tzabar
Academic Consultants for The Open University: Lara Frumkin and James Munro#BadPeople_BBCCommissioning Assistant Producer: Adam Eland
Commissioning Executive: Dylan HaskinsBad People is produced in partnership with The Open University and is a BBC Audio Science Production for BBC Sounds.

Criminal psychologist Dr Julia Shaw makes a return to the series with a new co-host: journalist Amber Haque. Each episode tells the story of a true crime and explains why people do bad things. Murder, blackmail, fraud and much more. Listen every Thursday. Bad People is a BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Sounds.