ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 4

Violence in America: A Survey of Suicide Linked to Homicides
Aderibigbe, YA
Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, VA

(Received 4 April 1996; accepted 21 October 1996)

Abstract

This paper describes murder-suicide in the United States from 1990 through 1995, using the cases reported in six major newspapers. Spousal murder-suicide was the predominant type with a range of 42%–57%; familicide-suicide was the second predominant type with a range of 22%–47%. The perpetrators were predominantly males; the victims were female sexual partners or consanguineous relatives. Firearms (guns) were used in 90% of the cases. The author concludes that a national surveillance system that specifically identifies and codes this phenomenon, and multi disciplinary studies are necessary to hinder this phenomenon.

Keywords:
forensic science, forensic psychiatry, murdersuicide, familicide-suicide, extra familial, spousal, consortial, United States

Paper ID: JFS14177J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS14177J
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