Fetal Abduction: Comparison of Two Cases.

The current article compares two cases involving the murders of two pregnant mothers for the kidnapping of their fetuses. The structure of the crimes includes seven steps. Both mothers were befriended by their killers (one before and one on the day of the murder and abduction), rendered unconscious by blunt force trauma, and then killed (one by strangulation and one by gunshot). Both bodies were moved after the murders and hidden, and later discovered by the circumstances of the babies' births: crude cesarean section operations. One killer, Winifred Ransom, was diagnosed in 1975 with schizophrenia, acquitted as insane, sentenced to Byberry State Hospital and, on appeal, was released as "cured" 20 months later. The other killer, Julie Corey, was found guilty in 2014 and sentenced to life in prison. The cases illustrate two different eras in psychiatric nursing. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 54(11), 37-43.].