[Dion]

And there is something else to consider. It has been suggested that after Latimer killed Tracy, there was a 45% increase in filicides.

http://www.chninternational.com/latimer_lethal.htm

Now Dick Sobsey, director of the JP Das Developmental Disabilities Centre at the University of Alberta, presents evidence that Latimer's widely publicized self-justification has contributed to an upsurge in copycat killings unique to Canada. In the fall issue of the journal Health Ethics Today, Professor Sobsey suggests that starting in 1994, the year of Latimer's first trial, roughly 20 more children found their parents going over the brink each year. "Latimer's lionization sends the message that killing a child is okay," he says.

To connect Canada's rising filicide rate with Latimer, Prof. Sobsey uses social learning theory, which posits that when aggression is modelled, its influence will be heightened if the model's behaviour is endorsed by the public. In his words, "The widespread social perception that 'altruistic homicides' like the killing of Tracy Latimer are the acts of heroic and loving parents who deserve praise... should be expected to encourage more parents to kill their children." Prof. Sobsey predicted that Latimer's favourable publicity would lead to:


One or more copycat homicides.
An increase in children killed by their parents relative to the national homicide rate.
An increase in children killed by fathers and stepfathers relative to the number killed by mothers and stepmothers.