Friday, March 17, 2006

Motive for Murder - Ethnic Custom?

This is a weird one for most citizens of the U.S. However with so many new immigrants this motive becomes increasingly common. Here is a scenario: Two missionaries go to the Riff Valley in Central Africa to serve their church. They have children - two sons - who assimilate very quickly into the pagan culture that surrounds them i.e. even though their parents are white Americans, the two boys playmates are young men of a tribal culture that has a set of very strict rules of retribution for things like infidelity etc.

Years later, one of the boys moves to Illinois and marries. The marriage turns rocky. A divorce takes place and the husband suspects marital infidelity. Suddenly the couples 10 year old son is found murdered. Even though there is no evidence linking her to the crime, the mother is convicted. The father goes free. A question lingers - Did the father follow a tribal custom of killing the first born as retribution for infidelity? It's weird, but how much can we assimilate into the customs of another country - especially when we are young? Does your police department ever consider ethnic tribal customs as possible motives for murder?






New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York

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