Children Who Kill: Profiles of Pre-Teen and Teenage Killers Read Online Free PDF Page A

controlling man, and now James copied his parenting methods. Cheryl and Jimmy weren’t allowed to speak at meal-times and had to eat a little bit of everything on their plate in turn or he’d get enraged and slap them across the face. They also weren’t allowed to sip from their glasses until they’d finished the food. This control extended to every facet of their lives with the childrenbeing warned that they must keep their bedroom doors open at all times.
    At six foot two and strongly built, James Pierson was often a frightening figure to his children and his wife – and they all had the bruises to prove it. But rather than removing the children from the home, Cathleen merely told them to try to keep out of their father’s way. Cathleen herself had frequently watched her mother beat her brother with a stick so she was used to violence in the home.
    Cheryl grew up into a pretty, very feminine little girl who Cathleen loved to dress up in fairytale dresses with ribbons and bows. At school she was only an average student, but academia wasn’t particularly important as she wanted to be a hairdresser or a beautician when she grew up. She was good at school sports and was very pleased when her father attended her games.
    When Cheryl was eight the couple had another daughter, JoAnn. Cathleen showed Cheryl how to care for the new baby and Cheryl revelled in this, acting like a little mother. She was already becoming the peacemaker of the family, a child old before her time who always tried to make things right.
    The neighbours felt sorry for the little girl who was always being shouted at and slapped by her dad, so they often invited her and her equally bullied siblings over. One neighbour even dared to tackle James Pierson for the way he treated his offspring but James angrily told him to ‘fuck off’.

Cheryl’s mother becomes ill
    When Cheryl was nine Cathleen suddenly became very ill. She was hospitalised for weeks and subjected to numerous tests. James was frantic. In his own way he really loved his wife – and very controlling individuals are often terrified of being left alone. He visited her in hospital every day and kept demanding that the doctors get quicker test results.
    Eventually Cathleen was diagnosed as having kidney failure and sent home to await a transplant. She was so ill that she mainly slept on the living room couch, so James started going into the marital bedroom to watch TV. He called Cheryl in to lie on the bed next to him as televised sport was something they both enjoyed. They’d take in cans of soda and crisps and Cheryl would curl up with her head on his chest. Sometimes both father and daughter would fall asleep.
    At other times he’d wrestle her playfully or tickle her or lift her over his head. Cheryl was pleased that at last her daddy wasn’t ignoring her. But she’d later claim that this touching became increasingly inappropriate .

Kidney transplants
    Cheryl’s mother Cathleen remained ill for the next six years, apart from the periods following her first and then her second kidney transplant. When a relative asked her why her kidneys had declined so rapidly,she said it was because her husband was beating her. She also told a friend that she wanted to leave him because he was always shouting at the children and criticising them. Cheryl had by now matured into an attractive thirteen-year-old but she still had to act like a little child in the presence of her dad. Observers noted that James would call her over to him and make her hug him and act in a generally flirtatious or unduly deferential way.

Incest is suspected
    Cathleen now told a neighbour that she wanted Cheryl out of the marital bedroom, that she thought her husband might be touching the thirteen-year-old. The neighbour suggested to Cheryl that she should watch TV in her own room. But when Cheryl did so her father turned mean and said ‘Am I not good enough to watch television with any more?’ He also picked fights with