ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 opens with a brief example of the bizarre behavior of an elderly person with dementia. A fully developed case study follows, which narrates the case of a husband with dementia who kills his wife during what appears to have been an episode of psychosis. Homicide introduces the concept of gray mist killing, a killing of or by a person with dementia, usually committed in the family home by a family member, mostly by a husband or male partner. The chapter then overviews the limited existing research on the topic, pointing out knowledge gaps. These gaps inform the aims and the approach of the book, namely to open up discussion of dementia-related killings within families in the US, the UK, and Australia using case studies. The chapter provides a quick preview of the 100 hundred cases explored and concludes with a map of the parts and chapters of the book: Part 1 (Mere Oblivion, Chapters 1 and 2), Part 2 (Homicide Chronicles, Chapters 3–6), Part 3 (Contemporary Interventions, Chapters 7 and 8), and Part 4 (Toward a Global Understanding, Chapters 9 and 10).
