Latest / Shades of Murder / 51: Mother Monster - Yui Inoue, Tempe, AZ

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51: Mother Monster - Yui Inoue, Tempe, AZ · Shades of Murder

0:06
In the early morning hours on May 16th, 2021 in Tempe, AZ,
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police officers entered an apartment.
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They noticed a large pool of blood.
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Near a bedroom were trash and boxes, random items thrown
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about, a blanket and a mattress. They lifted the mattress and
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began to rummage through the pile, which is when they
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discovered two small bodies underneath.
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Who were these innocent victims, and who was the monster who
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tried to hide their remains? Hello and welcome to Shades of
1:03
Murder. In this podcast, I discuss cases
1:07
of murder from around the world and throughout history,
1:11
attempting to unravel the layers of darkness that help make
1:16
humans into monsters. This is a special warning for
1:23
those of you who are particularly sensitive to crimes
1:26
against children. This show is not intended for
1:30
all audiences and listener discretion is strongly advised.
1:37
At 12:30 AM on May 15th, 2021 in Tempe, AZ, law enforcement
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officers responded to a call from a man who reported the
1:46
woman he had recently divorced was behaving violently and
1:50
acting erratically. The man, Subasa Anu, said that
1:55
his ex-wife had hacked 2 pieces, his computer and other
1:59
electronics in the house. She was screaming at him,
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wielding a large. Kitchen knife and had.
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Threatened to stab him. When the police arrived, they
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did not believe there was any real.
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Cause for a concern? There was minimal.
2:14
Damage done and Noah had been physically.
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Harmed police officers left the house after being reassured that
2:22
their two kids were fine and asleep in their beds.
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The husband later said that he left the residence around 3:00
2:29
AM. There is no known exact time of
2:33
the following sequence of events.
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After the police had left Yua Anu alone, she went into her
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children's bedroom with a meat cleaver.
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She dragged her children down to the floor and firmly held them
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down. Ewie Anew raised the knife and
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struck her son and daughter dozens of times with the blade.
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She was now covered in her children's blood.
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Ewie Anew removed her clothing and placing inside a garbage
3:06
bag. Then she took a bath.
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Afterwards, she packed a backpack which contained her
3:13
passport, cash and jewelry. Then she locked the front door
3:19
and left her apartment. Around 7:30 AM, Yui Anu drove to
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a Tempe police substation and flagged down officers speaking
3:30
to them primarily in Japanese. Yui Anu informed an officer that
3:36
she was hearing voices telling her to kill her children.
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Police observed blood stains on her heel.
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Superficial. Cuts.
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Along her fingers and that her hands and.
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Knees were bruised. Law enforcement officers.
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Returned to the. Residence around 8:00 AM.
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Inside they were met with the most horrifying and traumatizing
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crime scene. An investigator can face the
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brutal slain of two small kids. When police entered the
4:11
apartment, they noticed a pile of trash and boxes, random items
4:15
thrown about in the mattress. They lifted the mattress and
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began to run through the pile, which is when they discovered
4:22
two small bodies hidden underneath.
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The woman, son and daughter, 9 year old Mia and seven-year old
4:30
Kai, have been hacked to death with some kind of vicious bladed
4:35
weapon. The two small children had
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countless lacerations, cuts and amputations.
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There were also multiple defensive wounds on them.
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The children had been almost completely decapitated.
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The scene was too much for investigators to process.
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It was too much darkness for anyone to grasp.
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Autopsy reports could not quantify exactly how many times
5:13
the children were struck with the meat cleaver.
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It was estimated to be dozens of times.
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And the unforgiving knife wielded against these helpless
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small children had even amputated pieces of their
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bodies. The coroner's official cause of
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death for each child was sharp force and multiple chopping
5:37
injuries. Their mother, Ewie anew, was
5:43
promptly. Arrested on suspicion of murder.
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When she was detained. Investigators saw the blood and.
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Lacerations on her body during her interrogation, ewie anew
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told homicide investigators that she had gone to bed with her
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kids that night she woke up around 4:30 AM to a.
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Bloody and unbelievable scene her hands and arms were.
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Covered in blood. Then she saw, lying near the
6:13
doorway, her two children, dead and bloodied, but she claimed to
6:19
have no recollection of harming them.
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She told police how it wasn't until after her bath that she
6:29
became awoken of what she had done, but that she didn't
6:35
believe. She had killed them.
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Investigators would search her vehicle and find her blood
6:43
soaked clothes and the weapon, a blood covered meat cleaver with
6:49
A6 inch blade inside a bag. The suspect also had suitcases
6:57
inside the car, which were spattered with blood.
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The investigation later revealed how the couple had recently
7:04
divorced, and Yui Anu had planned to return to her native
7:07
homeland of Japan. However, money was tight and
7:11
finances became the center of hostility between the man and
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his former wife. On the night of the murders, the
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former husband Tsubasa Anu and his wife Yui Anu were fighting
7:26
about the money needed for her to relocate to Japan.
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The conflict escalated and Huey Anew grabbed the meat cleaver
7:33
from the kitchen and began swinging it around, attacking
7:36
his computer and other items before threatening to stab her
7:40
ex-husband. The man reported this incident
7:44
to the police and he claimed that he slept in his vehicle
7:47
that night in the parking lot of the bank where he worked.
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Except for the incident of domestic abuse the night of the
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murders, there were no previous signs of violence exhibited by
7:59
the mother or any sounds heard from the apartment at all.
8:04
According to one of their next door neighbors at the apartment
8:08
complex, Kevin Hochstadter, he didn't know them very well and
8:12
they hadn't lived there very long, but he said that the
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couple never made any noise. He wasn't even aware they had
8:23
children, so he was especially startled when he heard through
8:29
their. Shared wall.
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A. Sudden outburst.
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A pounding. It lasted around 8 consecutive
8:37
minutes, then all sounds stopped for about 5 minutes until the
8:43
pounding began again, but this time it was much softer.
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This. Information he shared with the
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police and the same details were confirmed by a neighbor who
8:56
lived beneath them. The DCS, or Department of
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Children's Services at the time of the children's death, were
9:03
investigating the mother for alleged neglect.
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She had recently taken off with her youngest son, Kai, before
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the police located her and the boy hiding behind a convenience
9:15
store. Yui Anu was admitted to a
9:18
psychiatric hospital and her son Kai was returned to his father.
9:23
DCS argued there was no evidence of neglect or abuse.
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Both children said they felt safe with their parents.
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From what they saw and heard. There was no viable reason to
9:35
remove the kids from the home that night, even though the
9:38
investigation was still open when the children were killed.
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On May 15th, 2021, UE Anu, 40, was officially indicted by a
9:49
grand jury on 2 counts of first degree murder, 2 counts of child
9:53
abuse and disorderly conduct. UE Anu was held in Maricopa
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County Jail on a $2,000,000 bond on July. 7th, 2021 the state put
10:04
forth the. Argument of aggravating
10:06
circumstances in the death of her two children this same day,
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Yui Anu would be appointed a Japanese speaking interpreter
10:15
there was no denying that since. English was not her native
10:18
language. Yui Anu had many challenges
10:21
communicating her story with the police and later understanding
10:25
the legal. Process at her first official
10:29
hearing through her Japanese speaking.
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Interpreter, she said. That she didn't kill anybody on
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September 12th, 2021. UE Anu filed a defendant.
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'S rule 12.9 motion. This is a legal motion in which
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a defendant in a criminal case. Challenges a grand jury
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proceeding. It is a process to argue that
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the grand jury proceeding was flawed somehow, which may have
10:54
led to an invalid indictment. I cannot locate any specific
10:58
reason why the defense counsel argued this.
11:00
Point, but it may have simply been a legal.
11:03
Strategy to delay the pretrial hearings further.
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On March 2nd, 2022, a motion for the appointment of a mental
11:10
health expert witness, along with a request to transport the
11:13
defendant to a clinic for psychiatric assessment was
11:16
filed. Everyone involved in the
11:19
investigation, in particular homicide investigators, believe
11:22
that the mother was severely mentally ill.
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She initially had told police that voices had commanded her to
11:30
kill her children, but during her court hearing, she would say
11:33
that her kids were still alive. UE Anew would later claim that
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her children were not dead, and she couldn't understand why
11:40
people were saying that she had killed them, according to her
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interpreter. She said they were spending time
11:45
with her parents in Japan, that she left her kids dearly, and
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that it was very odd that everyone was saying they were
11:54
dead. Yui Anu was given multiple
11:59
psychiatric assessments, but they would not help in her
12:03
defense. On September 29th, 2023, more
12:06
than a year and a half later, Yui Anu was declared to be
12:10
competent to stand trial. Further, the judge prohibited
12:14
anything mental health related from being addressed during her
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trial. The criminal trial of Yui Anew
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began in February 2025 and lasted around 2 weeks.
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Maricopa County Prosecutor Sheely Beasley painted Yui Anew
12:30
as a monster of a mother who expressed 0.
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Remorse. Over.
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Having. Slain her two small children,
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she told the. Jury the story like this.
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Mia and Kai Anew were sleeping soundly in their beds when their
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own mother came into their bedroom holding a knife, a meat.
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Cleaver, that is. Literally designed to cut the
12:56
bones of animals and she attacked them with it.
13:00
She had to think. She had to act and there is
13:02
nothing. Unclear or speculative about any
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of that. During the criminal trial, the
13:09
prosecution addressed the. Trauma that these murders.
13:12
Had caused for all involved, including the.
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State the defense, the investigators, the coroner and
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crime scene specialist, many of them.
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Had to undergo counselling. Because of what they were
13:27
exposed to, Mia and Kai's uncle told the courtroom how their
13:31
loss has severely affected their entire family.
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Their former elementary school principal, Tammy Fate read a
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victim impact statement, choking back tears.
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And I quote their absence from our school community has been
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felt every day since their death.
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We miss their warm and welcoming smiles.
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We miss their gentle spirits. We miss their infectious
14:00
giggles. Although they were both
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children, I want this court to know their short lives mattered.
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Rebecca Foemly, her defense attorney, discussed Ewey Anew's
14:15
suffering mental state and addressed how she was
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involuntarily evaluated twice in the months before her children
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were killed. Ewey Anew's defense did their
14:28
best to plant seeds of doubt in the minds of the jury, pointing
14:32
out how there were no eyewitnesses to the children's
14:36
murders and that Yui Anu, who was a small woman, was not
14:40
physically strong enough to carry out the crime.
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The medical examiner testified regarding the extreme amount of
14:49
force that would be necessary to inflict such severe injuries.
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He stated that it would require a significant amount of strength
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and energy over an extended period to cause the wounds with
15:03
the meat cleaver, describing it as equivalent to the amount of
15:07
force from a guillotine. Their client also had no memory
15:14
of committing these murders. She asked the jury why would my
15:20
client go to the police station wearing the blood of her kids
15:26
with the weapon in the vehicle if she was the one who had
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killed them? But nothing could be said about
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the defendant, Yui Anu to wipe away the graphic images and
15:45
horrifying descriptions of two small innocent children brutally
15:50
slain. The jury would quickly return
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with a verdict. They found UE anew guilty on 2
15:59
counts of first degree murder, 2 counts of child abuse and one
16:03
count of disable conduct. The State asked that the judge
16:08
sentence the defendant to consecutive life sentences for
16:12
her crimes. The prosecutor spoke the
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following within her memorandum. The children were helpless,
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sleeping, and completely at the mercy of their own mother who
16:24
showed none. These deaths were physically
16:27
painful and emotionally torturous.
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The first responders, detective, crime scene specialist and
16:34
medical examiner are permanently traumatized by the injuries
16:39
inflicted on these children. The children's friends, school
16:44
teachers and Tempe community are.
16:45
Harmed by such a horrific event, there is no mitigation that
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warrants anything less than consecutive presumptive terms
16:56
for these crimes. On May 2nd, 2025, a little more
17:01
than four years after the murders of her two children, the
17:05
convicted mother faced the judge for her punishment.
17:10
Before handing down her penalty. Judge Geoffrey Ruder said to the
17:14
courtroom. I can't imagine what those
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children went through in their last minutes.
17:20
The fear, the suffering, it's incomprehensible.
17:25
He later spoke to the media about how it was the hardest
17:28
case he has ever dealt with over 2 decades being a judge.
17:34
He sentenced UE anew to two life terms, one for each child she
17:39
killed, and an additional 35 years for the counts of child
17:43
abuse and disorderly conduct to be served consecutively to her
17:47
life sentences. This case is beyond tragic, It
17:52
is horrible and heartbreaking and there are no words that can
17:57
properly describe the crimes committed against these
18:01
children. The question remains, what was
18:05
this mother's motive, what triggered her to kill her
18:11
innocent children, and could this crime have been prevented?
18:16
First, it is necessary to view this offender and her crimes
18:19
through the specific type of homicide she committed.
18:24
Philicide, specifically maternal philicide.
18:30
Children are most at risk of being killed by their parents.
18:36
This is not a modern day phenomenon, nor is the crime
18:39
limited to 1 country, race or ethnicity.
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In the last quarter of the 20th century, 61% of children under
18:48
five years old were murdered by their.
18:51
Parents 61%. Of these murders, 30% were
18:58
committed by their mothers and 30. 1% by their fathers.
19:03
As mentioned in a previous episode, the United.
19:05
States has the highest. Rate of child homicide.
19:09
When compared with other developed.
19:10
Nations, the child homicide rate for infants is 8 out of
19:14
100,002.5 for preschool aged kids and 1.5 for school aged
19:21
children described as being between 5 and 14 years old.
19:25
Based on the 1973 classification system established by forensic
19:29
psychiatrist PD Scott regarding paternal philicide, psychiatrist
19:34
D Orban created her own for maternal philoside.
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The six categories include battering mothers, mentally ill
19:42
mothers, neonaticides, retaliating women, unwanted
19:46
children, and mercy killings. There are specific patterns of
19:50
maternal philoside that are important to note.
19:53
Almost all cases have occurred at home.
19:57
In most incidents, the mother has killed more than one child.
20:01
In half of the cases, the mother had an upsetting conversation or
20:05
altercation with the husband before committing the ACT.
20:10
A history of violence by the offenders of maternal philicide
20:13
does not seem to correlate with the act of philicide, although
20:18
many have been young, poor, undereducated, and were the
20:21
children's primary caregivers. Depression and experiencing
20:26
hallucinations has been found to be a commonly shared trait
20:31
amongst these perpetrators. Motherly love the ultimate
20:37
protection and security. A child is supposed to be able
20:41
to depend on the one who nurtures you, tends to your
20:45
wounds and loves you beyond her own life, something that many of
20:50
us have experienced. But some women regret and resent
20:54
this label, this expectation placed upon them by society, by
21:01
the patriarchal forces that perceive females as being meant
21:06
to be mothers and caregivers. The data on historical records
21:11
show us that women have rejected and violently rebelled against
21:15
the notion of motherhood for centuries.
21:21
Unfortunately, and tragically, some women have elected to
21:24
murder their children. As a result, the structure of
21:30
motherhood and women's status within society is an overarching
21:35
theme across all cases. A philicide.
21:40
In almost every incident of maternal philicide, the ACT is
21:44
committed by a mother who, for one reason or another, is faced
21:47
with circumstances that deny her to parent and her children.
21:53
Psychologist Meyer and Olbermann have provided a very interesting
21:57
perspective on the actophyllicide 2 female
22:01
psychologist who have reviewed hundreds of cases have noticed
22:05
patterns that have led. Them to establish a typology.
22:08
Unique from the others, they. Believe that this crime is.
22:14
Triggered not just from mental illness.
22:16
But rather from the intersection, a society,
22:20
environment, culture, and of course, variables that are
22:24
distinct to the individual's life experience.
22:28
Their categories include philicide related to an ignored
22:31
state of pregnancy, abuse related philicide, philicide due
22:36
to neglect, assisted or coerced philicide, and purposeful
22:40
philicide. For mothers whose cases have
22:42
fallen under purposeful or intentional philicide, they have
22:47
all been considered mentally ill.
22:50
If a woman is suffering from severe depression and or
22:53
psychosis, how is it possible that she meet the needs and
22:58
demands of taking care of young children?
23:02
The role of mental illness thus falls into place for the primary
23:05
reason behind why and how a woman could kill her kids.
23:10
Yet little research exists within this realm of family
23:14
murder, and what does the methodology and sample size and
23:19
selection tend to be very narrow to generate any helpful
23:23
conclusions that can help lead to real prevention.
23:29
The average perpetrator of maternofilicide is early 20s to
23:33
30s, uneducated, unemployed, outside the home, lower to
23:38
middle class, and are socially isolated.
23:41
Since this describes a large population of mothers, how is
23:45
anyone supposed to identify signs or characteristics that a
23:49
mother may be capable of child homicide?
23:54
Psychiatric diagnosis are too often made after the murders
23:58
have already been committed. Some research has suggested that
24:02
the evidence of mental illness may be a direct result of the
24:06
PTSD and depression caused by the act of philicide and didn't
24:13
necessarily exist during the time of the offence.
24:19
However, there are way too many cases similar to UE Anews where
24:24
there are very clear warning signs of psychosis and impending
24:30
violence. Prosecutors believed that UE
24:34
Anew was triggered after her ex-husband had called the police
24:38
over to intervene on the night of the children's murders.
24:43
She wanted revenge against him for contacting them and wanted
24:47
him to pay in the worst imaginable way by murdering his
24:52
kids. She had already planned to
24:54
return to Japan. There is no record as to whether
24:59
she intended to bring the children with her.
25:01
Or if that was an. Additional point of tension and
25:04
hostility between the former spouses.
25:09
It was suggested and illustrated by the prosecution during her
25:13
criminal. Trial that her main motivation.
25:15
Was to get. Back at her husband, this mother
25:20
of two young kids wanted revenge against her ex for divorcing her
25:25
and for not having enough money for her to comfortably return to
25:29
Japan. His calling the police over to
25:33
their apartment the night of the murders was the last straw.
25:39
Spousal revenge, as the primary motivator of phyllicide, is one
25:43
of the rarest forms as defined by the offender seeking
25:48
retaliation against their partner by killing one or more
25:52
of their children. The individual is motivated by
25:56
the desire to make that person suffer.
26:00
This desire has been written about as early as the play from
26:05
431 BC, which referenced its act.
26:10
In the play, what is known as the Medea syndrome is discussed.
26:14
Euripidus tells the story of a woman, Medea, who kills her two
26:17
sons in an act of revenge upon her husband.
26:22
Although it does exist, apparently has since this time
26:26
in history, research shows it only incurs in around 2% of
26:31
maternal phylicide, with his presence much more common when
26:36
committed by the father. According to a specialist in
26:38
this field, Resnick, there have been two characteristics of
26:42
women who commit this type of maternal philicide.
26:46
They have borderline personality and dependent personality
26:49
disorders. When their crimes fall under the
26:52
realm of retaliation. The brutal depravity and sheer
26:59
rage Yui Anu exhibited toward her innocent children does
27:04
indicate some elements of a revenge killing.
27:09
Her actions were so beyond. Anything comprehensible for
27:12
anyone, much less a mother, to do it is difficult to believe.
27:17
That their deaths were. Premeditated and caused by anger
27:21
around her divorce. But maybe she was one of the
27:24
rare perpetrators of this kind of maternal philicide.
27:30
Her actions nevertheless also showed signs of delusion and
27:34
psychosis. Why would she have driven to the
27:37
police and told them about the voices telling her to kill her
27:40
children when she could have simply driven to the airport and
27:44
left the country? That doesn't sound like a smart,
27:48
cold calculated killer to me. Our society continues to insist
27:55
that mental illness is the primary reason behind any woman
27:59
who kills her kids. Because such a horrific act goes
28:04
against the grain of everything we believe in, it shatters the
28:09
pillar of what civilization is built on.
28:14
We can't comprehend that a woman would willingly end the lives of
28:19
innocent children who are literally a part of her flesh.
28:24
Such a woman must be mad, insane, sick and twisted.
28:30
The ACT has to be beyond herself, willing control.
28:34
It must be her mental illness telling her to brutally and
28:38
savagely end the most innocent of lives.
28:42
Some studies suggest that it is not the mental illness at the
28:46
forefront of the homicidal act, but rather the conditions of
28:50
motherhood and the expectations laid upon her across time and
28:57
place, cultures, and all demographics.
29:01
This crime has happened and continues to exist.
29:06
It is not one group's issue or concern.
29:10
However, the ways in which this crime is viewed and treated
29:14
under the law is drastically different outside of much of the
29:20
United States. the US in particular, but like many other
29:27
Western countries, has a tendency to ignore mental health
29:32
and chooses to not understand, much less be invested in, the
29:37
mental health of mothers. Many nations around the world
29:42
have specific maternal philicide statutes which recognize the
29:47
extent to which this crime is distinct from ordinary homicide.
29:53
They explicitly diminish the severity of punishment for women
29:58
who killed their children. US jurisdictions lack such
30:02
statutes and maternal philicide as prosecuted under standard
30:06
homicide laws. The result has been a tendency
30:09
towards treating each maternal philicide case as exceptional,
30:14
rather than recognizing the patterns that link these cases
30:18
and the extent to which these crimes are linked to the social
30:22
expectations from others. And too often, the media plays a
30:28
powerful role in dictating how the defendant is framed and even
30:34
in determining how these cases are resolved.
30:40
The result is that US maternal philicide case law is incoherent
30:47
and often arbitrary. Women convicted of substantially
30:51
equivalent crimes, such as neonaticide, receive sentences
30:56
that can vary from probation with counseling to life
31:00
imprisonment without parole. The inconsistencies and
31:06
sentencing demonstrated by the US criminal justice system is
31:11
very disturbing. There is the potential for
31:14
injustice in specific cases, but also the US criminal justice
31:20
system tends to either over prosecute to the fullest extent
31:26
of the law or not convict the offender at all, unlike the
31:33
United States which penalizes philicides.
31:35
Similar to other murders, several countries have
31:38
infanticide laws that recognize the unique circumstances that
31:43
exist around the crime, specifically the killing of
31:47
children who are under one years old.
31:51
These nations seek to acknowledge and address the
31:53
correlation between childbirth and mental disturbance in some
31:58
women. This is a reflection of their
32:01
concern and understanding of the mental state of women who suffer
32:05
from postpartum depression that research shows can lead to
32:10
psychosis. For example, in the England,
32:14
which is 1 of 20 European countries that have infanticide
32:18
laws, they passed the Infanticide Acts of 1922 and
32:21
1938, which recognize how the severe impact of childbirth has
32:26
on the mental health of a woman and it helps to provide a
32:30
partial defense to murder in such criminal cases.
32:36
Before this legislation, any woman who killed her child was
32:39
subjected to the laws dictated by all murder, which at that
32:43
time would have mandated the death penalty.
32:47
Similar legislation exists in Wales, Ireland, Canada and
32:51
regions of Australia. They promote more humane
32:54
treatment and focus on providing psychiatric care for women who
32:58
kill the young children over giving them harsh criminal
33:02
penalties. Hong Kong has mirrored the
33:05
Infanticide Acts in England, which provide more lenient
33:08
punishment towards women who murder their infants if it can
33:11
be shown that at the time their mental state was disturbed.
33:17
Part of the problem in how the United States handles such cases
33:20
and its offenders is that they are dependent upon the insanity
33:24
defense. Since perinatal illness or
33:27
postpartum psychosis is not identified under the DSM as a
33:32
legitimate diagnosis, this leaves offenders of maternal
33:36
phyllicite to declare a state of insanity, which is not easy to
33:41
prove a judge. Has the power to bar.
33:44
The mention of mental. Health in a court proceedings.
33:48
But it does. Depend on several different
33:50
factors. First, the specific context of
33:54
the case is taken into consideration.
33:57
Second, any relevant laws and rules of evidence must be
34:00
considered. Lastly, the assessment of the
34:04
facts and circumstances revolving around the crime.
34:08
A judge. May deem it as being.
34:10
Relevant in cases when mental impairment for the defence has
34:13
been acknowledged or in competency evaluations.
34:17
However, a judge can limit or eliminate its use altogether in
34:22
court if they consider it to be irrelevant, unfairly
34:25
prejudicial, or if it fails to be probative.
34:30
For example, in Arizona case law, a judge may restrict the
34:33
diagnosis of a personality disorder as a basis for
34:37
mitigating circumstances in a criminal trial.
34:40
In the case of UE Anu in Tempe, AZ, the parameters of using
34:45
insanity as a defense have become increasingly more
34:48
difficult and complicated in the last few decades.
34:53
In 1993, the not guilty by reason of insanity law was
34:57
replaced by guilty except insane, also known as GEI.
35:03
This emitted the MC Naughton test to require that at the time
35:06
of the offense, the person had a mental disease or defect and the
35:09
person did not know the criminal act was wrong.
35:14
This further changed the law to exclude GEI as a result of acute
35:18
voluntary intoxication, character defects, psychosexual
35:22
or impulse control disorders, and temporary conditions arising
35:26
from the pressure of the circumstance.
35:29
If an offence is determined to be serious, the equity would be
35:33
commended to the jurisdiction of the Arizona Psychiatric Security
35:37
Review Board for a term equal to the sentence that they would
35:41
have received if found guilty under the Arizona Criminal Code.
35:46
If it is determined that the person still needed involuntary
35:50
treatment, they could be held further under civil commitment
35:54
statutes. In 2004, a report surfaced that
35:57
explained how valuable space and resources were being wasted at
36:01
hospitals for the mentally insane to house individuals who
36:05
were no longer receiving psychiatric care there, but who
36:08
were still considered to be dangerous.
36:11
This resulted in a major change in 2007, which required judges
36:15
to sentence individuals who were found guilty by reason of
36:18
insanity to a term of incarceration before committing
36:23
them to the jurisdiction of the Psychiatric Security Review
36:27
Board for the term of their sentence.
36:30
It is then up to this review board to determine if and when
36:34
the individual's treatment has been successful, or if they need
36:38
ongoing care, or if they are deemed dangerous and considered
36:43
likely to reoffend. In 2007, new legislation was
36:48
introduced that allowed for the courts to send.
36:51
Some offenders who were found. Guilty but mentally ill to
36:55
prison rather than to. Hospitals for psychiatric care.
37:00
What this essentially equates to is that it doesn't matter
37:04
whether you were found to be mentally ill in an Arizona
37:07
Criminal Court, that doesn't mean you won't go to prison.
37:12
Now, if someone is found to be mentally incompetent to stand
37:15
trial, then that is a different matter altogether.
37:19
In the case of Yui Anu, since she was found to be mentally
37:23
competent, the severity of her mental illness was not even
37:27
considered a factor in the killing of her children.
37:32
The defendant had a recorded history of psychiatric care,
37:37
then it would be next to impossible to deny that she was
37:41
mentally unstable. I was surprised to learn how the
37:45
judge had decided to prohibit the mention of her mental health
37:49
during the court proceedings. UEA News Mental health in
37:55
combination with other stressors was likely would help to trigger
37:59
her violence. In no way does it change the
38:04
crimes she committed, but it may have changed what kind of
38:07
penalty she received, which I presume is exactly why the judge
38:12
elected not to allow any mention of it in the trial.
38:17
In the case of UENU, she was committed to a psychiatric
38:21
hospital twice in the months before she killed her children.
38:26
There was documented proof of her volatile and erratic
38:30
behaviour. The mother was actively under
38:35
investigation by DCS, yet on the night of the murders neither her
38:43
ex-husband nor the police failed to see any reason for concern
38:48
regarding the welfare of her children.
38:51
She had threatened to stab her ex-husband and attacked his
38:54
items with a meat cleaver, but there was no evidence of
38:59
potential violence. Their decision to leave the
39:04
children there is anything but logical, much less responsible
39:09
to me. I'm tired of hearing about how
39:13
the child welfare system in this country keeps failing to protect
39:18
kids from harm when there were obvious signs of their mother's
39:23
mental illness. No one except for Yui Anu is
39:28
responsible for these atrocious crimes, whether her mental
39:33
illness played a part or not, but I can't help but think that
39:38
there were so many signs of her snapping that should not have
39:44
been dismissed. What stands out to me in this
39:49
case and the offender's subsequent punishment, is how
39:53
Yui Anew was perceived and handled by the courts and the
39:57
media when compared to similar offenders.
40:01
There have been many other cases of maternal philicide in which
40:04
the perpetrators inflicted unimaginable brutal violence and
40:09
terror upon their young children.
40:13
Cases that also showed evidence of premeditation and whose
40:17
perpetrators mental health history involved hallucinogenic
40:22
commands telling them to kill their kids.
40:26
Yet this information was not only included in their criminal
40:30
trials but ultimately helped them win their insanity.
40:33
Please. Deanna Laney, whom I have
40:36
covered in my podcast, and of course the infamous Andrea Yates
40:41
were found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to
40:45
psychiatric care. Their vicious attack on their
40:50
small, innocent children was perceived to be altruistic since
40:55
they believed God had commanded them to kill their children.
41:00
The first one I mentioned, who is now walking around freely,
41:03
mind you. So what are the glaring, obvious
41:09
differences between these women and a mother who kills her
41:12
children like Yui anew? First of all, Deanna Laney and
41:17
Andrea Yates were both white, devoutly Christian women Who.
41:22
Homeschooled their children. And who were known as being the
41:24
most loving and pure? Hearted of mothers.
41:29
Yui Anu was a stranger to the United.
41:32
States it has not known how long the family.
41:35
Had lived in the area. Or even the country.
41:39
But she barely spoke English. Her husband, in contrast, worked
41:45
at a bank in the area. So it appears that he.
41:47
Was adapting fine to living in a new place?
41:52
I can't help but think her being a Japanese immigrant made it
41:57
next to impossible for the judge and the jury to relate to her on
42:01
any level. It was easier for everyone
42:04
involved to label her as a monster and throw away the key.
42:10
Don't misunderstand what I'm saying.
42:13
Yui Anu deserves to be locked up for life and not experience any
42:17
level of happiness, much less comfort.
42:19
But I can't help but notice how these white married Christian
42:23
women, who were suffering from the same severity of mental
42:28
illness as Yui Anu was, had their crimes perceived as a
42:33
result of their sickness and were not portrayed as evil
42:38
monsters. Was UE Anew an evil monster?
42:44
No one can deny that her actions were indicative of evil, but how
42:51
can a judge deny how severely sick she was to commit such an
42:55
act against her children? Even if that doesn't mean she
42:59
spends any time in a psychiatric care hospital, shouldn't there
43:03
be treatment so she doesn't cause future harm to those
43:06
around her in prison? The Bureau of Justice Statistics
43:12
found that 60% of individuals in jail, 49% of state prisoners,
43:17
and 40% of convicted offenders in federal prison show signs or
43:23
symptoms of a mental health disorder.
43:26
Yet our country and its criminal justice system fails to
43:30
prioritize mental health of offenders.
43:35
And in general. Help prevent the harm and
43:37
violence triggered by mental illness.
43:43
This specific type of murder is so important to gain further
43:48
insight on because 1/4 of women who are admitted to psychiatric
43:52
care have children under five years old.
43:56
It is also important to study women who commit maternal
43:59
philicide who are not mentally ill, particularly women who lack
44:03
education, are young, impoverished and neglect their
44:07
prenatal care. One study of mothers a colicky
44:12
infants who were not diagnosed as mentally ill, discovered that
44:15
as high as 70% of the women had explicit aggressive thoughts
44:22
towards their babies and 26% of them had thoughts of killing
44:27
them during an episode. To help prevent this horrendous
44:31
crime, understanding these thoughts and characteristics of
44:36
mothers who may be more prone to acting upon these feelings than
44:39
others is critical. It may help to identify mothers
44:45
who are at high risk of killing their children.
44:49
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed the
44:52
National Violent Death Reporting System, which collects data
44:55
about violent deaths, including homicides, suicides and deaths
45:00
that occur by law enforcement in the act of duty.
45:04
They systematically gather information from medical
45:07
examiner reports, law enforcement and death certifies
45:11
and place them into an anonymous database.
45:15
The system pulls more than 600 unique data elements to help
45:18
paint a clearer, more detailed picture of what may have caused
45:23
these deaths. Everything from relationship
45:26
problems, mental health conditions, toxicology reports,
45:30
to life stressors such as known financial issues, employment
45:34
problems, or physical related problems are all collected to
45:38
provide valuable context into the individual's death.
45:44
The CDC uses this data to develop, implement, and evaluate
45:48
programs and strategies to help prevent violence.
45:52
All 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto
45:55
Rico, submit this data to the NVDRS.
45:59
Even more relevant to this case is how the USFBI has established
46:03
a project that examines data. For a large sample of women.
46:07
Who have killed their children. All 50 states also have.
46:11
Implemented child fatality review teams.
46:14
But unfortunately, these individuals deaths are often not
46:18
investigated until after a. Person has been prosecuted due
46:22
to restrictions to. Access on law enforcement and
46:24
coroner reports. These cases of murder are
46:29
unbearable. They are difficult to listen to
46:32
and emotionally draining to cover countless podcasts.
46:36
Stay clear of covering such family violence.
46:40
These crimes are beyond horrifying and disturbing.
46:44
Our society doesn't want to think about a parent killing a
46:46
child, but the only way to ever prevent these crimes is to
46:52
acknowledge their existence and discuss these cases.
46:58
At the children's former school, Kyrene del Cielo and Tempe, they
47:03
have memorialized Mia and Kai anew, so their impact is forever
47:09
remembered. In a beautiful mural, the
47:15
children are painted outside amongst the trees.
47:20
Mia is depicted with many cats whom she adored and Kai and his
47:25
red sneakers which he always wore no matter what clothes he
47:33
had on. Their former principal spoke
47:37
about how these two children were adored at the school.
47:41
Everyone loved them. They were two of the kindest,
47:45
brightest and most polite kids she had the privilege of ever
47:49
knowing. They both loved art class and
47:55
some of their paintings hang near the mural.
48:00
They are vivid, creative and bright, just as the children
48:06
were known for being during their short lived lives.
48:17
Thank you so much for listening to this heartbreaking story of
48:24
Mia and Kai Anew of Tempe, AZ. Please let me know your thoughts
48:31
on this case. I know it was a very difficult
48:34
one to hear, but these stories are so important to be told.
48:43
We can't, as society, afford to just bury our heads in the sand,
48:48
so to speak, and not talk about the most horrific of cases.
48:59
Until next time, be safe and watch out for shades of murder
49:07
happening in the streets next door, especially inside your own
49:13
home. Shades of Murders created,
49:18
researched, written and edited by Lita Caldwell.
49:23
Original music stranger composed by Stereo Code.