Russian mother in Wisconsin, Natalia Hitchcock, charged for killing 8-year-old son after becoming paranoid about the Ukrainian conflict

Natalia Hitchcock, a Russian mother in Wisconsin, strangled her 8-year-old son to death on March 30, fuelled by her paranoia over the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

The 41-year-old has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide as per the criminal complaint that was lodged on Tuesday. The second charge was in relation to Natalia Hitchcock attempting to drown her 11-year-old son just a day prior to strangling her younger one.

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Natalia Hitchcock claims her son "would be better off dead" than abused

The victim, Oliver Hitchcock, was found lying lifelessly at the base of the bunk bed in his room by his older brother while “his mother was on the bed with a big knife,” according to the police report.

The older son's screams proclaiming his brother's death woke up their sleeping dad. The complaint said that while the father tried to administer CPR on Oliver, Natalia Hitchcock was “walking around the apartment with a knife, dazed, saying she was going to kill everyone in the house.”

During questioning, she told the police that after strangling her 8-year-old, she tried to stab herself in an attempt to "cut her heart."

Oliver was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead from his injuries two days later, on April 1.

The criminal complaint read:

"When asked if Hitchcock had any mental health concerns, [the husband] said, ‘She does now'. He 'was worried about Hitchcock’s mental state of mind as she watched TV with the war between Russia and Ukraine.'"

Natalia Hitchcock was paranoid about being unable to visit her parents, who were stuck in Russia. Her growing unease about the Russia-Ukraine war led her to turn to vodka, prompting uncharacteristic violent rage fits.

She told her husband of her worries that “people were going to be coming from a bigger city to attack them” or even sell them on the dark web.

The woman also nursed fears that the "Russian government was going to take her children and abuse them.” The legal documents added:

“She also said that people had been looking at her strange and felt that people looked at her as a Russian spy, which caused her to feel that social workers were going to take her kids from her.”

This notion was what ultimately led to her strangling her son to death since she "did not want to see him be abused" and thought he “would be better off dead.”

Her previous attempt at drowning her older son was also meant to instill this fear in him "so that he would understand his life was in danger.”

Natalia Hitchcock talking to her husband during her court hearing (Image via WTMJ-TV)

Natalia Hitchcock later admitted that she had "brain fog" in the days leading up to the incident, where she felt that “someone was controlling her mind and she had been poisoned.”

When she was informed of her son's death while being held in the Sheboygan County Jail, she said calmly:

"Well, I guess I accomplished what I set out to do then.”

During her hearing in Sheboygan County Court on Tuesday, she apologized to her husband, claiming she had no idea what happened. Natalia Hitchcock is currently being held on a $1 million bond until her next court hearing on Thursday.

The townspeople are commemorating the young boy by wearing his favorite color, purple. A candlelight vigil will be held in Oliver's honor on Sunday, April 10, at River Park in Sheboygan Falls.