PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Piel, Jennifer AU - Leong, Gregory B. TI - The Slayer Statute and Insanity DP - 2010 Jun 01 TA - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online PG - 258--262 VI - 38 IP - 2 4099 - http://jaapl.org/content/38/2/258.short 4100 - http://jaapl.org/content/38/2/258.full SO - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2010 Jun 01; 38 AB - It is common law that persons cannot benefit from their crimes. For this reason, most states have enacted slayer rules that prevent a killer from sharing in the victim's estate. However, terms in the slayer rules, such as willful and unlawful, can be difficult to apply, as illustrated by the situation in which a slayer is found not guilty by reason of insanity. The Washington Supreme Court has recently addressed whether a man who killed his mother and was then found not guilty by reason of insanity in criminal court can inherit a portion of his mother's estate.