Beth Thomas, The 'Child Of Rage' Who Tried To Kill Her Brother
Beth Thomas, The 'Child Of Rage' Who Tried To Kill Her Brother
The Chilling Story Of Beth Thomas, The Six-Year-Old Who Tried To Murder Her Little Brother
By Hannah Reilly Holtz | Edited By Jaclyn Anglis
Published October 28, 2023
Updated November 29, 2023
"Child of Rage" Beth Thomas terrorized her younger brother and her adoptive parents — then experts uncovered the disturbing cause of her behavior.
YouTubeBeth Thomas as a deeply troubled child (left) and as a healthy adult (right).
Her name was Beth Thomas.
At only six years old, Beth admitted to a clinical psychologist, on tape, that she would kill her adoptive parents and birth sibling if given the opportunity. Her adoptive parents, Tim and Julie Tennant, locked their young daughter in her room at night because they were afraid of what she might do.
Meanwhile, the couple had no idea that their adopted daughter had been horrifically abused by her birth father, and it wasn’t until Beth started speaking to a psychologist that she could begin to heal from her trauma.
Videotapes of the therapy sessions between Beth and Dr. Ken Magid were later compiled into a 1990 HBO documentary, Child of Rage, which revealed the haunting effects of severe neglect and sexual abuse on a child.
Beth Thomas’ Traumatic Childhood
Public DomainBeth Thomas displayed “psychopathic” tendencies early on, and it took years to uncover the root of her behavior.
Details about Beth Thomas’ birth are scarce, but it’s believed that she was born around 1982, somewhere in the United States. When she was just one year old, her birth mother died, leaving her and her newborn brother Jonathan alone with their abusive and violent birth father.
Beth’s biological father sexually abused her for months. When he wasn’t physically harming her, he was neglecting her. He also abused Jonathan. By February 1984, both children had been removed from their father’s home. The Department of Social Services then told two prospective adoptive parents that they had two young children up for adoption.
These prospective adoptive parents were Tim Tennant (sometimes spelled Tennent), a minister at a small Methodist church in the American South, and his wife Julie. Married for over a decade and unable to have biological children, Tim and Julie were delighted to welcome 19-month-old Beth and seven-month-old Jonathan into their home. They knew little about the children’s background and were told that they were “normal and healthy.”
But shortly after Beth Thomas was adopted, she began displaying “psychopathic” behavior. As a toddler, she removed a nest of baby birds from a tree, even though Julie said that the birds’ mother wouldn’t come back if the nest was gone — then Beth squeezed all the baby birds to death.
Even more disturbing, Beth physically and sexually abused her brother. She attempted to kill Jonathan multiple times, at one point smashing his head onto a concrete floor, according to the Daily Star. She made no secret of her desire to murder her sibling, and she also expressed her desire to stab her adoptive parents. And when she wasn’t threatening violence, she was masturbating at inappropriate times — sometimes even in public places.
Terrified by their adopted daughter, who seemed to completely lack a conscience, Tim and Julie Tennant resorted to locking Beth in her room every night to protect her brother — and themselves — from her rage. But they couldn’t live in fear in their own home forever, and by the time Beth Thomas was six years old, they decided to seek professional help.
A “Child Of Rage” Who Shocked America
YouTubeSix-year-old Beth Thomas undergoing therapy in the HBO documentary Child of Rage.
Ultimately, Beth Thomas was diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder (RAD), a severe trauma response present in children who do not form an emotional bond with their caregivers. This mental health condition is only diagnosed in the most extreme cases. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it’s estimated that about one to two percent of children suffer from RAD, but the number is believed to be higher for children in the foster care system.
Examined by psychologist Dr. Ken Magid, Beth began to slowly reveal the root of her trauma — the severe abuse and neglect she faced at the hands of her biological father. In 1990, HBO released a documentary titled Child of Rage that chronicled the young girl’s therapy sessions as she battled RAD.
Viewers were stunned by Beth’s disturbing behavior and the confessions she made during her therapy tapes with Magid. When Magid asked the young girl how she would kill her adoptive parents, she responded, without any emotion, “Stab them.” Beth also explained that she would murder them at night because “I don’t like them seeing me do it, but they can feel me do it.”
Beth also expressed her desire to kill her birth sibling, and admitted to sexually abusing Jonathan. When Magid asked her what she did with Jonathan’s genitals, she said, “I hurt it… I pinch it. Squeeze it. Kick it.”
Even more disturbing was Beth’s past with her birth father, who had brutally abused both her and Jonathan. Magid asked her about a recurring nightmare about a violent man she’d mentioned before, and she replied that in the dream, “I would be in the house upstairs. He comes up the stairs and hurts me.” As it turned out, the man in the nightmare was her birth father.
In one tape, Magid questioned Beth about her biological father and what she could remember about him. Despite her young age, Beth spoke in graphic detail about her birth father’s physical and sexual abuse: “He touched my vagina until it bled. It hurted a lot. And um, he wouldn’t feed me a lot. He’d hit on me. Wouldn’t be very nice to me.” When asked about how old she was when the abuse happened, Beth said that she was only a year old.
Beth Thomas’ Successful Treatment — And The Controversies That Followed
YouTubeBeth Thomas now as a fully healed adult.
After Beth Thomas completed her sessions with Dr. Ken Magid, the psychologist decided that the girl should be temporarily separated from her adoptive family, as she still required intensive therapy to heal. According to news.com.au, she was then placed in the care of Connell Watkins, a therapist who specialized in intensive behavioral modification therapy.
Watkins was extremely strict with Beth, requiring her to ask permission to eat, use the bathroom, and nearly everything else. She also kept her in a locked bedroom at night. This forced Beth to work to earn the trust of Watkins and the other staff members who were helping her. Only then would Beth earn privileges and more freedom to do what she wanted. She flourished under Watkins’ care and finally began to express remorse for the pain and anguish that she put her brother and her adoptive parents through.
However, Beth did not return to the home that she spent her early years in and was instead re-adopted by a different woman, Nancy Thomas, during the course of her treatment. From there, Beth continued to thrive, eventually graduating from the University of Colorado with a degree in nursing.
She later got a job as a registered nurse at Flagstaff Medical Center in Arizona in 2005. Incredibly, Beth Thomas now takes care of babies. She also volunteers with her second adoptive mother Nancy’s program Families By Design, which aims to help families with adopted or foster children.
Odyssey/WikipediaThe 1992 film Child of Rage was inspired by the real case of Beth Thomas and her 1990 HBO documentary.
But while this may seem like a fairytale ending for the former “Child of Rage,” some view Beth Thomas’ successful therapy as an anomaly — especially since she was treated by the now-controversial Connell Watkins.
In 2001, Watkins was found guilty of negligent child abuse in relation to the death of a 10-year-old girl in her care, Candace Newmaker. The girl was fatally smothered during a pseudoscientific “attachment therapy” practice called rebirthing, which involved wrapping a child up in blankets and pushing against them with pillows to simulate the feeling of being born. Watkins was sentenced to 16 years in prison but was paroled after seven years.
The advocacy group Advocates for Children in Therapy has spoken out against attachment therapy in general, and has specifically criticized both Beth and Nancy Thomas for promoting its practices: “[Nancy] Thomas’s parenting methods are based on isolation, deprivation, humiliation, and being non-communicative with the child… Beth Thomas is one of only two survivors of Attachment Therapy known to speak well of the practice as an adult; both market pro-Attachment Therapy materials and services.”
But even though attachment therapy may be more harmful than helpful to most children with conditions like reactive attachment disorder, the good news is that there are other options for kids in need of treatment. The Cleveland Clinic suggests that options like psychotherapy, family counseling, social skills intervention, and parental skills classes may be beneficial — but the earlier the disorder is diagnosed and treated, the better.
After learning about Beth Thomas, the subject of “Child of Rage,” check out these 15 child killers who are even more chilling than their adult counterparts. Then, read about the psychologist who claims that child sex dolls should be given to pedophiles so they don’t abuse real children.
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Hannah Reilly Holtz
Hannah Reilly is an editorial fellow with All That's Interesting. She holds a B.A. in journalism from Texas Tech University and was named a Texas Press Association Scholar. Previously, she has worked for KCBD NewsChannel 11 and at Texas Tech University as a multimedia specialist.
Jaclyn Anglis
Based in Queens, New York, Jaclyn Anglis is the senior managing editor at All That's Interesting, where she has worked since 2019. She holds a Master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York and a dual Bachelor's degree in English writing and history from DePauw University. In a career that spans 11 years, she has also worked with the New York Daily News, Bustle, and Bauer Xcel Media. Her interests include American history, true crime, modern history, and science.
COPY
Cite This Article
Holtz, Hannah. "The Chilling Story Of Beth Thomas, The Six-Year-Old Who Tried To Murder Her Little Brother." AllThatsInteresting.com, October 28, 2023, https://allthatsinteresting.com/beth-thomas-child-of-rage. Accessed November 13, 2025.
The Chilling Story Of Beth Thomas, The Six-Year-Old Who Tried To Murder Her Little Brother
By Hannah Reilly Holtz | Edited By Jaclyn Anglis
Published October 28, 2023
Updated November 29, 2023
"Child of Rage" Beth Thomas terrorized her younger brother and her adoptive parents — then experts uncovered the disturbing cause of her behavior.
YouTubeBeth Thomas as a deeply troubled child (left) and as a healthy adult (right).
Her name was Beth Thomas.
At only six years old, Beth admitted to a clinical psychologist, on tape, that she would kill her adoptive parents and birth sibling if given the opportunity. Her adoptive parents, Tim and Julie Tennant, locked their young daughter in her room at night because they were afraid of what she might do.
Meanwhile, the couple had no idea that their adopted daughter had been horrifically abused by her birth father, and it wasn’t until Beth started speaking to a psychologist that she could begin to heal from her trauma.
Videotapes of the therapy sessions between Beth and Dr. Ken Magid were later compiled into a 1990 HBO documentary, Child of Rage, which revealed the haunting effects of severe neglect and sexual abuse on a child.
Beth Thomas’ Traumatic Childhood
Public DomainBeth Thomas displayed “psychopathic” tendencies early on, and it took years to uncover the root of her behavior.
Details about Beth Thomas’ birth are scarce, but it’s believed that she was born around 1982, somewhere in the United States. When she was just one year old, her birth mother died, leaving her and her newborn brother Jonathan alone with their abusive and violent birth father.
Beth’s biological father sexually abused her for months. When he wasn’t physically harming her, he was neglecting her. He also abused Jonathan. By February 1984, both children had been removed from their father’s home. The Department of Social Services then told two prospective adoptive parents that they had two young children up for adoption.
These prospective adoptive parents were Tim Tennant (sometimes spelled Tennent), a minister at a small Methodist church in the American South, and his wife Julie. Married for over a decade and unable to have biological children, Tim and Julie were delighted to welcome 19-month-old Beth and seven-month-old Jonathan into their home. They knew little about the children’s background and were told that they were “normal and healthy.”
But shortly after Beth Thomas was adopted, she began displaying “psychopathic” behavior. As a toddler, she removed a nest of baby birds from a tree, even though Julie said that the birds’ mother wouldn’t come back if the nest was gone — then Beth squeezed all the baby birds to death.
Even more disturbing, Beth physically and sexually abused her brother. She attempted to kill Jonathan multiple times, at one point smashing his head onto a concrete floor, according to the Daily Star. She made no secret of her desire to murder her sibling, and she also expressed her desire to stab her adoptive parents. And when she wasn’t threatening violence, she was masturbating at inappropriate times — sometimes even in public places.
Terrified by their adopted daughter, who seemed to completely lack a conscience, Tim and Julie Tennant resorted to locking Beth in her room every night to protect her brother — and themselves — from her rage. But they couldn’t live in fear in their own home forever, and by the time Beth Thomas was six years old, they decided to seek professional help.
A “Child Of Rage” Who Shocked America
YouTubeSix-year-old Beth Thomas undergoing therapy in the HBO documentary Child of Rage.
Ultimately, Beth Thomas was diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder (RAD), a severe trauma response present in children who do not form an emotional bond with their caregivers. This mental health condition is only diagnosed in the most extreme cases. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it’s estimated that about one to two percent of children suffer from RAD, but the number is believed to be higher for children in the foster care system.
Examined by psychologist Dr. Ken Magid, Beth began to slowly reveal the root of her trauma — the severe abuse and neglect she faced at the hands of her biological father. In 1990, HBO released a documentary titled Child of Rage that chronicled the young girl’s therapy sessions as she battled RAD.
Viewers were stunned by Beth’s disturbing behavior and the confessions she made during her therapy tapes with Magid. When Magid asked the young girl how she would kill her adoptive parents, she responded, without any emotion, “Stab them.” Beth also explained that she would murder them at night because “I don’t like them seeing me do it, but they can feel me do it.”
Beth also expressed her desire to kill her birth sibling, and admitted to sexually abusing Jonathan. When Magid asked her what she did with Jonathan’s genitals, she said, “I hurt it… I pinch it. Squeeze it. Kick it.”
Even more disturbing was Beth’s past with her birth father, who had brutally abused both her and Jonathan. Magid asked her about a recurring nightmare about a violent man she’d mentioned before, and she replied that in the dream, “I would be in the house upstairs. He comes up the stairs and hurts me.” As it turned out, the man in the nightmare was her birth father.
In one tape, Magid questioned Beth about her biological father and what she could remember about him. Despite her young age, Beth spoke in graphic detail about her birth father’s physical and sexual abuse: “He touched my vagina until it bled. It hurted a lot. And um, he wouldn’t feed me a lot. He’d hit on me. Wouldn’t be very nice to me.” When asked about how old she was when the abuse happened, Beth said that she was only a year old.
Beth Thomas’ Successful Treatment — And The Controversies That Followed
YouTubeBeth Thomas now as a fully healed adult.
After Beth Thomas completed her sessions with Dr. Ken Magid, the psychologist decided that the girl should be temporarily separated from her adoptive family, as she still required intensive therapy to heal. According to news.com.au, she was then placed in the care of Connell Watkins, a therapist who specialized in intensive behavioral modification therapy.
Watkins was extremely strict with Beth, requiring her to ask permission to eat, use the bathroom, and nearly everything else. She also kept her in a locked bedroom at night. This forced Beth to work to earn the trust of Watkins and the other staff members who were helping her. Only then would Beth earn privileges and more freedom to do what she wanted. She flourished under Watkins’ care and finally began to express remorse for the pain and anguish that she put her brother and her adoptive parents through.
However, Beth did not return to the home that she spent her early years in and was instead re-adopted by a different woman, Nancy Thomas, during the course of her treatment. From there, Beth continued to thrive, eventually graduating from the University of Colorado with a degree in nursing.
She later got a job as a registered nurse at Flagstaff Medical Center in Arizona in 2005. Incredibly, Beth Thomas now takes care of babies. She also volunteers with her second adoptive mother Nancy’s program Families By Design, which aims to help families with adopted or foster children.
Odyssey/WikipediaThe 1992 film Child of Rage was inspired by the real case of Beth Thomas and her 1990 HBO documentary.
But while this may seem like a fairytale ending for the former “Child of Rage,” some view Beth Thomas’ successful therapy as an anomaly — especially since she was treated by the now-controversial Connell Watkins.
In 2001, Watkins was found guilty of negligent child abuse in relation to the death of a 10-year-old girl in her care, Candace Newmaker. The girl was fatally smothered during a pseudoscientific “attachment therapy” practice called rebirthing, which involved wrapping a child up in blankets and pushing against them with pillows to simulate the feeling of being born. Watkins was sentenced to 16 years in prison but was paroled after seven years.
The advocacy group Advocates for Children in Therapy has spoken out against attachment therapy in general, and has specifically criticized both Beth and Nancy Thomas for promoting its practices: “[Nancy] Thomas’s parenting methods are based on isolation, deprivation, humiliation, and being non-communicative with the child… Beth Thomas is one of only two survivors of Attachment Therapy known to speak well of the practice as an adult; both market pro-Attachment Therapy materials and services.”
But even though attachment therapy may be more harmful than helpful to most children with conditions like reactive attachment disorder, the good news is that there are other options for kids in need of treatment. The Cleveland Clinic suggests that options like psychotherapy, family counseling, social skills intervention, and parental skills classes may be beneficial — but the earlier the disorder is diagnosed and treated, the better.
After learning about Beth Thomas, the subject of “Child of Rage,” check out these 15 child killers who are even more chilling than their adult counterparts. Then, read about the psychologist who claims that child sex dolls should be given to pedophiles so they don’t abuse real children.
Share
FlipboardHannah Reilly Holtz
Hannah Reilly is an editorial fellow with All That's Interesting. She holds a B.A. in journalism from Texas Tech University and was named a Texas Press Association Scholar. Previously, she has worked for KCBD NewsChannel 11 and at Texas Tech University as a multimedia specialist.
Jaclyn Anglis
Based in Queens, New York, Jaclyn Anglis is the senior managing editor at All That's Interesting, where she has worked since 2019. She holds a Master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York and a dual Bachelor's degree in English writing and history from DePauw University. In a career that spans 11 years, she has also worked with the New York Daily News, Bustle, and Bauer Xcel Media. Her interests include American history, true crime, modern history, and science.
COPY
Cite This Article
Holtz, Hannah. "The Chilling Story Of Beth Thomas, The Six-Year-Old Who Tried To Murder Her Little Brother." AllThatsInteresting.com, October 28, 2023, https://allthatsinteresting.com/beth-thomas-child-of-rage. Accessed November 13, 2025.
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4 years ago
When parenting fails, children find survival methods that seem irrational to most adults. The children do not learn the proper way to survive because the logical teacher is the problem. Supportive care made the difference here, but not enough can be done in most cases because the child is still in the formative stage.
When I see stories in the news about little children "picking" their gender, I see this as the same sort of abuse, and wonder why doctors cater to parents that want to start hormone therapy. Those children should be placed with other families like she was, and abusive parents should be punished.
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4 years ago
michael_tobin, even repeating a lie is a lie. There is no such thing "in fact" as transgenderism. You can change your opinion, and you can change your religion, but you can't change your sex, regardless of how widespread minority groups accept your "opinion."
Gender dysmorphia is a mental illness, albeit one without a cure. We can't "punish" people for what they can't control, but we don't have to accept their concept either, considering it is not real. We should always understand there are boundaries, and people who live imaginary lives should not expect anybody else to be coerced into this problem of theirs.
Any parent who allows a young child to "pick" a gender is guilty of child abuse. Those children should be removed from their parent's grasp. People who teach that anything else is acceptable are also abusing children.
Children are supposed to learn from their parents, but if those parents are not good role models and guides and instead encourage outrageous direction, you have lousy parenting, which is shameful.
People are gay. That is a fact of life. It isn't "normal," and it certainly isn't productive for society, but it is reality. It should not be encouraged by anybody under any circumstances.
Further, children's lives are always confusing, and childhood is the time to sort those things out because what you come away with is what you will have for the rest of your life.
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3 years ago
"..albeit without a cure."
Actually, some antidepressants have shown real promise in treating/curing dysphoria (as well as the end of puberty, which resolved dysphoria in something like 97% of dysphoric kids/teens in a Harvard study). The problem is, no further research is being done--is allowed to be done--because to try to resolve dysphoria in any way other than hormones and surgery is currently anathema. "Progressive medicine" is destroying countless lives, dozens for every one it actually helps. I sincerely hope that one day we look back on the current craze for "transitioning" the way we now look at lobotomies.
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6 years ago
Her adoptive parents names are Tim and Julie Thomas, not Rob & Jill Tyler. A little research goes a long way...
1 Like
4 years ago
Maybe the author changed their names to protect their identity and the identity of the other siblings. But thanks for that anyway.
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4 years ago
See the moral spineless create their problems and then call the victim a monster. Not only should you not be given procreation rights, the earth's damages would not heal in centuries if all EPA work started today. An inbred cannot function from genetic tissue defilement and their chemistry is reptilian, that means no procreation rights.
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