Would you help cover up a crime allegedly committed by a family member?

[Lolaandbehold]

I’m watching a Swedish drama on Netflix at the moment. A daughter has been accused of murder and her mother has (unbeknownst to her) disposed of some evidence (clothes and knife).

I went down a rabbit hole of thoughts on the matter.

i have no known family members who have ever had any dealings with the law so this is very much a hypothetical musing. (Do watch my fair share of crime dramas however). It got me thinking, If it were one of my offspring, I don’t think I would think twice about helping to cover it up/disposing of evidence. Even if it meant that down the line I got charged with perverting the course of justice. Although I suppose it depends on what the crime was and against whom it was perpetrated.

I’m wondering if I’m in the minority here, so I’m curious on what others would do…

Very much crime dependent. DH or one of the kids yes unless it was a sexual or unprovoked violent crime. Everyone else, no I wouldn’t help.

I watched part of this series and one of the reasons I gave up on it was that it didn't seem to do enough to generate motive for the mother's immediate activation of cover-up mode. The one suggestion of a motive seemed to be their response when the girl was the victim of a crime several years previously, which the mother appeared later to have judged to be insufficiently protective of the girl.

I wouldn't be covering up a murder, no. I might 'turn a blind eye' to a minor offence, i.e. not report it, but I don't think I would want to be actively involved in a cover-up of anything.

If my mum ever snaps and does my dad in, I'm there with the bleach, roll of carpet and shovels, no questions asked. 🤣

No I wouldn't help them cover up. The law is the law, yes there are reasons ppl are driven to murder but I'd expect them to own it and face the consequences.

All posters who say they would cover up based on certain circumstances, how would you believe them? Eg if your child says "I killed them but they were a baddie and it was self defense?"
I'd be like errrrm, you KILLED them?! Maybe I won't believe everything you are telling me right now?!? 😄

No I would not, I’m NC with family because of a this type situation I didn’t cover and I still wouldn’t if I could redo that period in time.
Cheesy but don’t do the crime if you can’t do the crime, if it’s self defence going down that route and explaining that the legal way is the way, covering it up means you can be in a whole load more shit.

No I wouldn’t. Everything always comes out in the end and so in my opinion it is better to be honest and deal with the consequences. I love my children but I don’t think being a good Mother means covering up a crime. They won’t learn and my life would be ruined because I would always worry I was going to be facing a problem in the future.

Quicksand?

No I wouldn’t, and knowing me I’d cock it up anyway and make things even worse.

Yep, I’d be straight over with my balaclava and my spade

If they’d made money from it I’d expect hush money though

@Lolaandbehold I want to know which series you're watching! I love scandi crime series and haven't watched anything good in ages!

Depends very much on the crime for me.

If you would help cover up an unprovoked crime that your child committed you are not a good person and very selfish. If someone committed a crime against your child no doubt you'd be hypocritical and want the perpetrator brought to justice. You cannot have it both ways.

Depends on both the person and the crime.

1. I was listening to an Agatha Christie where the mum witnessed her son kill his wife. He had a terrible character.

2. In my family, those seemingly most likely to commit a crime are those who also are less likely to make good decisions, so I wouldn't want to take the fall for them.

3. Then there are a very few who, if they did something in self defence and were wronged I would want to support... but I doubt i could hold my nerve for long during an investigation!

Depends entirely on the crime. And the victim I guess.

If my child was harming or planning to harm innocents then even though it would break my heart I would go to the police.

If they had killed an abuser, rapist or pedophile who had harmed them or their dc...I'd not only help but take the fall for it if necessary.

Yes I would help cover up anything for any of my family.

I’m also certain I could hold my nerve under questioning !

I don’t know but I have a reoccurring dream that I’m helping various family members cover up a murder and it’s stressful! Even though it’s not real, in the dream I’m always looking over my shoulder and covering my tracks. I don’t know if I could handle the stress in real life!

No, i dont think i would.
If they had done something like murdered someone abusing them, i think I'd be putting my energy into making sure the abuse was proven and the jury heard about it so they got a lenient sentence. Like diminished respinsibility or something.

Absolutely fucking not. I'm ex police and believe justice must not be interfered with.

I agree with a PP on one element - self defence by someone leading to a terrible injury or death would be someone I would support, but there is still a legal process that person has to go through in order to be cleared. They have to face up to what happened, not run away from it or it'll just get worse and less defensible.

I've helped pull a couple of suspected murderers out of lofts and crawl spaces. I've arrested women for covering up for their friends or partners for drug dealing and laundering the money for them. I've also been the officer lying in the road with a dying teenager trying to keep them alive long enough to get into surgery while the driver of the car who hit him tried to run away (picked up by a colleague down the road).

Most people when confronted with the consequences of their own actions are cowards. I will not enable that. And the people who assist them are cowards as well.

There's a victim on the end of all violent crime. If the child or family member you're all so desperate to cover up for was actually the victim of that violence, I assume you'd be OK with the perpetrators family and friends hiding them, disposing of the evidence and lying to give them alibis? Because that's what lots of you are advocating for.

A very normal family.
The ending was a bit disappointing but we were mostly gripped.

Sorry, A Nearly Normal Family!

I think people are talking about instances where their child is involved with very bad people, either dealers or abusive husbands.

My kids? Absolutely
I would help them hide the bodies (while telling them I wasn't cross, just VERY VERY disappointed)

This is something I have a reoccurring regular nightmare about ... I'm not sure who or how or why but know that either I or DH has done it and we're on the cusp of being found out. I wake in a cold sweat every time and it feels so so real