Spontaneous human combustion, or SHC, is essentially what happens when a person bursts into flames for no clear reason, usually while sleeping. Upon further investigation no external heat source can be found, nor is there any evidence of an accelerant. The grisly scene afterwards is somewhat puzzling and is characterized by a noticeable lack of fire or smoke damage outside the small vicinity of the victim. The body itself, is usually reduced to mere bone fragments and ashes (with the exception of the feet and legs in cases where the victim was sitting in a chair).

There are many theories as to how this happens including the paranormal as well as natural phenomenon that is unknown to us.

What does this mean for the mystery writer looking for a way to dispose of a body?

The Wick Effect is one theory for SHC, which is the slow destruction of a body via the victim’s clothing and body fat. What that means is that the clothing, or bed sheets, acts as a wick and the body fat acts as a candle. Due to the long strings of hydrocarbons in fat cells, there is actually a lot of potential energy stored there, but it does need an external heat source to start, though. A match or a cigarette is usually enough to start this reaction. The flames during the wick effect are very hot and intense, but stay very close to the body, thus preventing a larger scale fire.

This effect has been tested and verified under lab circumstances using pigs as analogues and produces almost the same things you’d expect to see in an SHC case. It should be noted, however, that taking a match to someone’s clothing doesn’t always have a contained burn area. Occasionally during experiments, the fire would roar way out of control and consume the room or building it was being conducted in.

I presume that if one were trying to cover up a murder, short of totally cremating a body, this would work in a pinch to get rid of evidence, including the match and/or the cigarette used to start the fire. Because this effect can take a day or two to fully destroy a body, make sure your killer has enough time in a secluded area to dispose of the body in this fashion.

Gang Killers

The sad fact is that in many inner cities, children are recruited into violent gangs. Most kids in these types of groups are pressured into violence, but more some, display violence out of a need or want for respect and power from the other members of the gang.

Parricide

Parricide is the act of killing one’s parents or another close relative. Most of the time parricide is committed because of abuse but can also be for some sort of gain or pressure. Males normally commit this type of killing, but as in the case of Sarah Marie Johns, females, albeit rarely, commit this type as well.

Cult Killers

While not on a scale with Jim Jones, children have been known to kill in a cult-like setting. In some sort of Satanic ritual, the West Memphis Three killed three eight year old in Arkansas in 1993. When kids align themselves with a group like this, it gives them a feeling of power over others and a reason to do things that aren’t normally socially acceptable.

Mental Illness

We normally don’t associate mental illness with violence when talking about kids, but it does happen. Children can be every bit a sociopath as an adult. They can also suffer from depression and paranoid schizophrenia just like an adult. Early detection and treatment are vital for preventing violent behavior for those kids suffering from a mental illness that may lead to violence. My cousin is actually serving time in a prison for this very reason. He shot and killed his best friend over a video game. He had been prone to violence and had anger issues in the past, but it never escalated this much.

School Killers

Of course the killings at Columbine come to mind first when someone mentions children who kill at school, but it wasn’t an isolated incident. School shootings and killings happen all over the country and are carried out by a wide age range of children. From the 6-year-old gunman (it was an accident) at Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Michigan to the boys at Columbine, school killings are becoming more prevalent as time goes on.

Suicide

When an adult kills themselves, the family and friends are obviously affected, but when a child kills themselves-unthinkable. These kids are often lonely, depressed and sometimes are abused by their peers in the form of bullying or their parents. Some of them may also want the weight of their deaths to adversely affect other people. No matter what the reason, it’s beyond simple comprehension.

Kids Who Kill Their Kids

Mainly what I mean by this is when a new mother, who is a child herself, discards her baby in some way to avoid responsibility or to avoid getting into trouble with their parents.  This, like the suicide of a child, is inconceivable, at least in my eyes. Having a child at such a young age does not automatically mean life is over-you just have to work a little harder at it. Not that I advocate children having sex and creating life, but sacrifices made for a child are better than being in jail for murder, not to mention the emotional damage it must wreak on the mother’s brain.

There are other types of child killers, but these are usually the main ones and, as you can see, they differ quite a bit from their adult counterparts, but then, some things are the same.

So, let me know: Did I miss anything? What are your thoughts on children who kill? Do you have any stories of child killers like the one I shared above?