Patricia Ericson

Patricia Ericson was a 50 year old American woman who killed her 10 children in Palos Hills, United States, on January 14, 2005, before being arrested.

Murders
During the morning of January 14, Patricia got into an argument in the kitchen over politics with her eldest daughter Gabrielle. Eventually she took an axe and hacked Gabrielle on the head, then hit her again after she fell to the floor. After killing Gabrielle, Patricia decided to kill the rest of her children, in order from oldest to youngest. She first entered the room of her son Ronald, and killed him by crushing his skull with the butt of a shotgun. She afterwards went to the basement, where she axed to death her son Tyrone in his bed, and tied up her son and daughter Margaret and Henry. She then called her daughter Danielle, who was living with her sister Mikaela a few miles away. When Danielle came to the house, Patricia killed her at the doorway by shooting her in the head with an AR-15. She then returned to the basement and axed to death Margaret and Henry, before walking to the driveway, where she shot her daughter Mikaela in the head with an AR-15, as she sat in the car. After killing her first seven victims, Patricia spent several hours debating whether or nor to kill her three infants. Eventually she took the axe and hacked Katrina, Sandra, and Robert to death in their cradles.

After the murders, Patricia hid the bodies of Danielle and Henry in the trunk of the car, and put the bodies of Katrina, Sandra, and Robert into boxes in her storage room. She also left the bodies of Tyrone, Margaret, and Henry in the basement, covering them in sheets. She left the body of Ronald in his bed, but covered his head with a pillow, and left the body of Gabrielle lying in the kitchen.

The crime remained undiscovered until February 1, when her husband returned from vacation. While in custody, Patricia said that she killed Gabrielle during an argument, and murdered the other children so that they would not miss her. She also said she regretted killing the three infants, because they were to young to remember anything. She was found to be insane and confined to a mental institution.