Another family annihilator, another man killing his own family.

Their academic paper reveals the first composite picture of family annihilators, revealing trends such as gender, age, motivation and even the most likely month and day that a man will annihilate his family.

"The clearest unifying factor is that this is overwhelmingly a male crime. While 71 family annihilators were identified, 59 were male," said Professor Wilson. "We also found that the rate at which this type of crime is being committed has increased, with the first decade of the 21st century claiming over half of all cases."

Over half of these men, 55 per cent, were in their thirties; 10 per cent were in their twenties and the oldest was discovered to be 59.

August was found to be the most common month for the killing to take place, accounting for 20 per cent of cases. Just under half of all murders were committed over weekends, especially on a Sunday.

"This is partly because the father had access to his children in the middle of the school holidays when he is not at work," said Wilson. "There may also be a symbolic factor as estranged fathers know that by the end of the weekend they will have to hand their children back to the mother."

Facts don't care about your feelings.