Comparing Homicide-Suicides in the United States and Sweden

A Descriptive Study of the Characteristics of Homicide-Suicide in Forensic Autopsy Cases

Homicide followed by suicide (HS) is a tragic event with varied characteristics across countries and regions. Compared to Western countries, there are limited studies on HS in Asian countries. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the characteristics of recent HS cases by examining forensic autopsy records from 2008 to 2020 collected from the Department of Legal Medicine, Chiba University, in Japan. A total of 77 HS cases were identified, involving 77 perpetrators (52 completed suicides, 25 attempted suicides), with 28 perpetrator and 89 victim autopsies. Our findings showed that older adults accounted for nearly half of the victims; victims were mostly females, whereas most perpetrators were male. The most common HS relationship was that between a parent and a child. Autopsy findings showed that the most common cause of death was strangulation, and illegal drugs were detected only in a few cases; however, psychotropic drugs were detected in child victims. No obvious evidence of past child physical abuse by caregivers was found. In contrast, intimate partner violence (IPV) was present, with a history of IPV found in half of HS cases involving adult intimate partner relationships. Notably, gender differences in age and relationship to the victim were identified. Likewise, some perpetrators may have expressed their plans and intentions for HS before the event, which may represent an important sign for HS prevention. However, to accurately reveal the course of HS, nationwide integrated statistics, forensic autopsies, including toxicological analyses of the deceased; and forensic psychiatric perspectives, including psychological autopsy, are required.

Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Femicide-Suicide in Italy: An Ecological Approach

The present study investigated the intimate partner femicide (IPF) and intimate partner femicide-suicide (IPFS) perpetrators' individual, relational, and contextual characteristics by analyzing, within the ecological approach, femicide cases that occurred in Italy from 2010 to 2019. On the topic, to date, scant studies examined possible differences between IPF and IPFS risk factors, and no studies have analyzed these factors by adopting an ecological systems model perspective. To this aim, archival research was carried out. Of a total of 1.207 femicides, 409 were IPF, and 227 were IPFS. Perpetrators' age, level of employment, law enforcement membership, mental and/or physical illnesses, use of psychoactive substances, previous crimes, previous violent relationships, presence of children, previous violence in the couple, inability to accept the end of the relationship, quarrels and conflict, jealousy and the psychophysical illnesses of both authors and victims, as well as the use of firearms and victim's request for help were analyzed. The results underlined the existence of different risk factors contributing to the IPF perpetrators' decision to commit suicide such as perpetrators' age, law enforcement membership, and firearm availability. These findings stress the need for specific risk assessment and management strategies for IPFS perpetrators.

Prevalence of Homicide-Suicide Incidents in Greece over 13 Years

Prevalence of homicide-suicides is difficult to determine in Greece due to the lack of a national tracking system. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of the homicide-suicide incidents in Greece over the past 13 years, and to determine the circumstances under which they occurred, as well as the characteristics of perpetrators and victims. Two Internet search engines (google and yahoo), as well as the search engine of the major national news websites, were surveyed to identify the number of homicide-suicide cases that occurred in Greece from January 2008 to December 2020. Over the study period, 36 homicide-suicide incidents occurred in Greece, resulting in 36 suicides and 41 homicides. The above incidents reflect an annual homicide-suicide rate of 0.02 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Most perpetrators were male (88.9%), whereas most victims were female (80.6%). Spousal-consortial cases accounted for 52.7% and familial cases for 41.7% of the total number of incidents. The use of firearms (mostly shotgun) was the most common method of homicide and suicide (58.3% and 63.9%, respectively). Women killed only their children, while men committed homicide and suicide mainly in the context of a former or current intimate partnership with the victim. Our results are in line with international homicide-suicide data. The establishment of a national surveillance system for homicides-suicides would be of paramount importance as it would facilitate accurate recording, identification of risk factors and characteristics of potential victims and perpetrators and it could ultimately be an aid to the prevention of such tragic events.

Is Homicide Followed by Suicide a Phenomenon in Itself? A Comparison of Homicide and Homicide-Suicide in Spain

The phenomenon of homicide followed by suicide (HS) has a low prevalence worldwide, although the literature has identified that these cases represent a significant percentage in homicide subtypes such as intimate partner homicide or filicide. In the present study, HS (n = 41) and homicides in which the perpetrator did not commit suicide after the event (n = 556) are compared. The information was extracted from police reports of homicides committed in Spain between 2010 and 2012 and belonging to the jurisdictions of the National Police and Civil Guard. The results showed that out of the total number of homicides analyzed, HS accounted for 4.9%, which implies a rate of 0.05 per 100,000 inhabitants. The findings of the study show that the profile of a HS victim of a 52-year-old Spanish woman. The perpetrator is of Spanish origin, 50 years old, unemployed, or retired, with a mental disorder, and with substance use being uncommon at the time of the event. HS events take place at the perpetrator's home, are related to interpersonal conflicts, involve a single perpetrator, several victims, and are mainly committed with a firearm. The findings are mostly consistent with previous studies and the prevalence of HS in the couple setting is highlighted (56.5%). However, the importance of studying cases outside of this setting is emphasized since it has been found that 30.5% of cases involve other family relationships and 13% occurred outside the domestic sphere.

Intimate Partner Homicide Suicide: a Mini-Review of the Literature (2012-2018)

RECENT FINDINGS

In homicide-suicide (HS), a perpetrator kills at least one victim and then commits suicide within a time frame, which is not consistently described in the literature. Most HS happen in an intimate partner relationship (HS-IP), but data about this phenomenon are still scant and poorly systematized.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To assess the research papers published about HS-IP from 2012 to 2018 in Pubmed and Scopus. Article selection followed the PRISMA flow diagram. Information was extracted from the selected articles and tabulated. The 22 eligible articles focusing on different types of HS, including HS-IP, suggest that HS-IPs are predominantly committed by men, usually married, cohabiting, or recently separated from their partner, with a medium-low employment status; the victim is usually the current or former female partner. Heterogenity of HS makes it difficult to generalize the results. Implications emerge for the need to target domestic violence and firearm regulation.

Homicide clearance in Western Europe

This study provides an overview of homicide clearance in four West European countries: Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Using data from the European Homicide Monitor, employing similar definitions and uniform coding schemes, this study allowed for unique cross-country comparisons in factors influencing differences in homicide clearance rates. Findings based on homicides occurring in the period 2009-14 revealed overall low homicide rates in all countries, with a wide variety in homicide clearance rates, ranging from 77 percent in the Netherlands to 98 percent in Finland. Results further showed that both event-based as well as victim-based characteristics significantly influenced the likelihood of homicide clearance, suggesting that homicide clearance rates can, for a large part, be attributed to the prevalent types of homicide in each of these European countries.