A Murderer with 47,XYY and an Additional Autosomal Abnormality
| Published date | 01 March 1969 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486586900200103 |
| Author | G. Sutherland,S. Wiener,Allen A. Bartholomew |
| Date | 01 March 1969 |
A Murderer with
4;:XYY
and
an Additional
Autosomal Abnormality
s. WIENER*, G. SUTHERLAND** AND ALLEN A. BARTHOLOMEW***
CASE
reports
are
now
accumulating
relating
to
"patients"
found
to
have
the
karyotype
47,XYYI.
Many
of
these
reports,
although
from
selected
samples,
have
tended
to
demonstrate
a
relationship
between
the
extra
Y
chromosome
and
criminality
or
"criminal
propenslties'v,
The
case
presently
described is of
interest
from
two
points
of view.
In
the
first
place
the
individual
was
charged
with
murder
(1961)
and
convicted of
that
crime
after
his
defence
of
insanity
had
been
rejected
by
the
jury.
He
was
sentenced
to
death,
a
mandatory
sentence
in
the
state
of Victoria,
and
after
an
appeal
to
the
State
Full
Court>
and
an
application
for
leave to
appeal
to
the
High
Court
of
Australia
had
been
rejected
the
death
sentence
was
confirmed
by
the
Govenment
of
the
day.
This
led
to
an
application
for
leave to
appeal
to
the
Judicial
Committee
of
the
Privy
Council in
London
which
was refused.
After
this,
somewhat
unusual
litiga-
tion
took
place
in
the
Victorian
courts
in
their
lunacy
[urtsdtction"
and
later
further
efforts
were
made
in
the
original
criminal
jurtsdtctions.
The
matter
ended
when
the
Government
commuted
the
death
sentence
and
the
prisoner
was
certified
to a
security
mental
hospital.
The
overall
story
has
been
well
set
out
in
general
terms
by Burns",
After
a
short
stay
in
the
security
mental
hospital
the
prisoner
was
returned
to
prison
to
continue
serving
his
sentence
-
natural
life
im-
prisonment.
In
1967 we
began
a
karyotype
survey of
our
prison
population
and
this
prisoner
was provisionally
reported
to be
an
XYY
/XYYY
mosaics.
Further
study
has
led
to
the
conclusion
that
his
karyotype
is 47,XYY, Dp+.
*Consultant
Pathologist,
M.D. (Melb.), PhD. (Melb.), M.R.A.C.P.
**B.Sc. (Melb.), Geneticist.
Both
of
the
Chromosome
Laboratory,
St. Nicholas Hospital,
Mental
Health
Department
of Victoria.
***M.B. (Lond.), D.P.M. (Lond.).
Psychiatrist
Superintendent,
H.M.
Prison
Pentridge,
Melbourne.
1. Nielsen, J. (1968)
"The
XYY
Syndrome
in a
Mental
Hospital"
Brit.J.Criminol.
8 186;
Court
Brown,
W.M., Price, W.H.
and
Jacobs,
P.A. (1968)
"Further
Information
on
the
Identity
of 47,XYY
Males"
Brit.Med.J.
ii
325.
2.
Although
this
is so
at
least
t\VO
cases
have
been
reported
of
"normal"
males
with
the
XYY
chromosome
constitution;
Court
Brown
et
ale Ibid;
Wiener,
S.
and
Sutherland,
G.
(1968) "A
Normal
X.YY
Man"
Lancet
ii
1352.
2a. R v Tait (1963) V.R. 520.
3.
See
FeIth
am, J.D. (1964)
"The
Common
Law
and
the
Execution
of
Insane
Criminals"
4
Melbourne
University
Law
Review
434; Re
Tait
(1963) V.R. 532.
4. Tait v R(1963) V.R. 547.
5. Burns, C. (1962)
The
Tait
Case.
Melbourne
University
Press.
6.
Wiener,
S.,
Sutherland,
G.,
Bartholomew,
A.A.,
and
Hudson,
B. (1968) "XYY
Males
in a
Melbourne
Prison"
Lancet
i 150.
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