Juan Corona Case Study

Case Study #1: Juan Corona

Biography

Juan Corona was an organized serial killer most commonly know as the, “The Machete Murderer.” Corona was convicted of 25 counts of first-degree murder in 1973 ((Vronsky, 2004). Corona was born in Mexico however, he migrated to the United States in 1950 to follow his brothers footsteps (Cray,1973). He was the 3rd of three children. All brothers worked in the farms and eventually Corona would get certified to be a contractor in order to hire people for fruit picking (Frank, 2013). Once in the States there was a storm that caused a flood, this event caused “strange” effects to Corona, according to his brother, Natividad. In 1956 Natividad, filed a petition to have Corona committed in a mental

Given that Corona was not close to his family it is recommended to have cognitive behavior therapy (CBT.) The goal for CBT is to reshape the behavior and patterns of thinking (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Since he was diagnose with schizophrenia it is recommended to be on anti-psychotic medication, a doze of 300 ml to 1000 ml of clozapine is recommended (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). A combination of both CBT and medication would be beneficiary by changing the chemicals in the brain. Individuals who are diagnosed with schizophrenia have a higher chance of committing a crime throughout their lives (Frank, 2014). With Coronas’ mixture of mental illness, a combination of anti-psychotic medication and anti-depressants for an add-on therapy (PsychCentral.com,

(2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Washington, D.C: American Psychiatric Association.

Cray, E., & Hawk, R. (1973). Burden of proof: The case of Juan Corona. New York: Macmillan.

Frank, M (2014). Migrant Worker Serial Killer: Schizophrenia’ Effects on Violence. UC Merced

Undergraduate Research Journal., 7(1). http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1xd8v8hb

Hamilton, M (2016). Juan Corona, California Serial Killer
 Convicted of Killing 25 Farmworkers, is

Lehman, A, Dixon, L, Perkins, D (2004). Treatments of Patients with Schizophrenia: Second Edition. https://www.alliancebhc.org/wp-content/uploads/Schizophrenia-Adult-1.pdf

Turner, W (1982). Corona’ s Brother Blamed in Deaths. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/17/us/corona-s-brother-blamed-in-deaths.html?mcubz=0

Vronsky, P. (2004). Serial killers: The method and madness of monsters. New York, NY: Berkley Book.

(n.a) (2017). Adding Antipsychotic Meds to Antidepressants Shows Risk, Little Benefit. Psychcentral.com. Retrieved 16 September 2017, from