Asphyxial homicide in two Scandinavian capitals

In the Oslo and Copenhagen capital areas, 94 asphyxial homicides were committed in the 10-year period 1985-1994, accounting for 22% of all homicides in that period. Sixty-nine (73%) of the asphyxia victims were female. The most common method of asphyxiation was manual strangulation. Seventeen (18%) of the victims were below the age of 10, accounting for 59% of all homicides in that age group. Whereas 38% of the female victims were killed by their spouse, this was the case for only one male victim. The motive was not known in a great proportion of cases. Fifty-seven percent of the victims had been subjected to additional violence, and in this respect there was no difference between the sexes. In 12 of the cases the offender was female; in 9 such cases the victim was her offspring. More than half of the victims had no blood alcohol. When disregarding the victims less than 10 years of age, 33% of the male and 49% of the female victims had no blood alcohol. The crime scene was the victim's domicile among 72% of female and 52% of male victims. Forty-two percent of the female and 11% of the male victims above the age of 10 years were married or cohabitant.     

Homicide by sharp force in two Scandinavian capitals

In the Oslo and Copenhagen capital areas, 141 homicides by sharp force were committed in the ten-year period 1985-1994. This method accounted for 33% of the homicides in this period. Thirty-five percent of the victims were female, and most of the victims were between 20 and 50 years of age. The majority of the male victims were killed by an acquaintance, the females by their spouse. Sixty-five percent of the male and 37% of the female victims had alcohol in their blood. The majority of the female victims had lesions in 3-4 anatomical regions, while the males most often had lesions in only one anatomical region. Seventy-nine percent of the females and 36% of the males had self-defence injuries in the upper extremities. In 21 cases (15%) the offender was a woman, 19 of their victims being male; the weapon in these cases was most often a kitchen knife. Seventy-eight percent of the females and 49% of the males were killed in their own home. The most common circumstance was family row when the victim was female, while a fight was the most common circumstance when the victim was male. Three offenders committed suicide after having committed homicide(s) (seven victims; three offenders).     

Fatal head injuries from firearms. An autopsy study of 270 cases

Autopsy findings in 270 fatal head injuries from firearms are reported, including 243 suicides and 27 homicides. The most frequent weapon used for both groups were shot guns which are easily available in Norway. For suicides the most favored sites were right tempoparietal, frontal, and mouth. Twenty-six percent of the victims from homicides had multiple wounds in their head. Suicide by firearms showed marked male predominance, whereas the sex ratio for homicide was rather equal between the two sexes.     

Homicide by blunt force in 2 Scandinavian capitals

In the Oslo and Copenhagen areas, 77 instances of blunt force homicides were committed from 1985-1994, accounting for 18% of all homicides in that 10-year period. Fifty-four (70%) of the victims were male, often killed by an acquaintance during a fight. Almost 70% of the female victims were killed in their own home, whereas that was the case for only 30% of the male victims. The majority of the victims (of both sexes) had been hit in more than 1 region of the body. A female offender was encountered in 4 instances; none of their victims were children. Of the 3 children in the blunt force victim group, 2 were battered children. Many of the victims with a blood alcohol level of 0 turned out to have lived for some time after the injury.     

Sharp Force Homicide in Denmark 1992–2016

Sharp force trauma is a common homicide method. The weapon is typically a knife, which is easily accessible and does not require special skills. We have analyzed all 471 sharp force homicides in Denmark during 1992–2016 with special focus on aspects that are relevant to forensic pathologists, including the distribution of wounds and organ injuries. Most homicides were committed inside with a kitchen knife. The front left thorax was the most common area to be affected by sharp force trauma. In 18.9% of the victims, there was only one sharp injury, the majority on the thorax. The most common trajectory for stab wounds was directly posterior with no deviation to the sides or up/down followed by directly anterior. The heart (including pericardium) and lungs (including hemo- and pneumothorax) had injuries in more than 75% of the victims. 67% of victims were males. Female victims had more sharp force injuries and defense wounds than male victims. Most females were killed in domestic homicides (73.7%), most commonly in partner killings (56.4%). In contrast, many male victims were killed in a setting of nightlife/intoxication (34.0%) most by a friend/acquaintance delivering a few stab wounds. The results clearly show strong sex differences in both victims and offenders. This could be useful for shaping policies and public opinion, and as a route for understanding the developments in interpersonal violence. In the narrow setting of death investigation, our results will provide an evidence-based approach to understanding the injury patterns in sharp force homicide.     

Homicide clearance in Sweden 1990–2013 with special reference to firearm-perpetrated homicides

Studies on homicide clearance in the Scandinavian context are very rare. In this article, we explore the homicide clearance rate in Sweden with special reference to firearm-perpetrated cases. The study is based on homicide research data collected by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, comprising all 2160 homicides known to the Swedish authorities during the period 1990–2013. The annual clearance rate varied between 74 and 90%, with an overall minor decrease since the 1990s. However, there has been a considerable decrease in the clearance rate for firearm-perpetrated homicides. It can be concluded that this decrease is due to a shift in the characteristics of firearm-perpetrated offences, with homicides committed in public places against criminally active male victims having become more frequent. This finding is generally consistent with theories which argue that homicide clearance rates are predominantly affected by case-specific, non-discretional factors beyond the control of the police. The practical implications of the study are that investigative efforts should be more intense in cases where a male has been shot in a public place, and that homicides related to criminal milieus should be investigated by specialized units.     

A 28-year (1963-90) study of homicide in Marion County, Oregon.

We describe 240 consecutive homicidal deaths that occurred in Marion County, Oregon, over a 28-year period (1963-90). An epidemiological assessment of the homicides yielded the following information: More than 91% of these deaths were primary homicides. In primary homicide, 63% of the victims and 88% of the offenders were male. In secondary homicide, 76% of the victims and all of the offenders were male. A high percentage of victims (83%) and offenders (84%) in primary homicide were Caucasian, as were 100% of victims and offenders in secondary homicide. About 12% of victims and 10% of offenders in primary homicide were Hispanic. Fifty-nine percent of primary homicides were intrasexual, as compared to 87% of secondary homicides. An intraracial pattern was found in 90% of primary homicides and in 100% of secondary homicides. The most frequent means of death in both primary and secondary homicides were firearms, physical beating, and stabbing. Strangers committed 80% of secondary homicides. This was in marked contrast to the victim-offender relationship found in primary homicides, where strangers were responsible for approximately 16% of the total, acquaintances for approximately 36%, and family members for approximately 48%. The overall clearance rate (i.e., the identification and charging of a suspect for the death) was 88%.     

Sex, race/ethnicity, and context in school-associated student homicides

This study assessed the importance of sex, race/ethnicity, and geographic context for incidents of school-associated student homicides between July 1, 1994 and June 30, 1999, covering 5 academic years. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention School Associated Violent Deaths Study (n = 125 incidents), we compared percentages and medians of victim, offender, motive, and school characteristics for incidents by geographic context and race/ethnicity of the offenders. Most incidents involved urban areas (53.6%), Black and Latino offenders and victims, moderately high youth poverty, and male on male violence (77.6%) driven by disputes and gang-related motives. Suburban area incidents (31.2%) often involved offenders and victims of a different race/ethnicity (51.3%). Multiple victims and White offenders were more common in rural areas (15.2%). More than 50% of the rural incidents involved male offenders and female victims. White offender incidents more often included multiple victims and female victims while Black and Latino offenders more often included single victims of the same sex. These results emphasize the utility of an incident-based analysis of school-associated student homicides in highlighting important variations by intersections of sex, race/ethnicity, and geographic context.     

Sharp Force Injury Fatalities: A Retrospective Study (1982–2012) in Brescia (Italy)

A retrospective study was carried out on postmortem examination data of 131 sharp force‐related casualties recorded by the Brescia Institute of Forensic Medicine between 1982 and 2012. The objective was to identify relevant parameters that may be used to distinguish the manner of deaths between homicide, suicide, and accident. The following variables were considered: manner of death; demographic data; scene; type of sharp object; location and numbers of wounds; the presence of hesitation marks/defense wounds; toxicological findings; psychiatric history. There were 92 homicides, 28 suicides, and 11 accidents. Most victims were male, with an average age of 43. Injuries in isolation were present in 9.8% of homicides, in 35.7% of suicides, and in 54.5% of accidents. Most injuries involved the left anterior chest in homicides and the forearms in suicides. This study underlines the importance of a meticulous postmortem examination of injuries on the body and their relationship with other results from the death scene investigation.     

Weapon Use in Korean Homicide: Differences Between Homicides Involving Sharp and Blunt Instruments

On the basis of information regarding 276 homicides committed in South Korea between 1987 and 2008, we compared offenders’ and victims’ characteristics, injury locations, weapon‐related behavior, and offending behavior between homicides involving sharp and blunt instruments. The victims of sharp‐force homicide were much younger relative to those of blunt‐force homicide. In addition, homicides involving blunt instruments were more likely to be committed by offenders who lived with the victims. Most sharp‐force homicides involved injuries to the torso, while blunt‐force homicides involved mainly head injuries. Furthermore, perpetrators of sharp‐force homicides tended to preselect their weapons, while those of blunt‐force homicides were likely to use weapons of opportunity. Logistic regression analysis identified a number of factors, including injury location and body transportation, which significantly predicted weapon type. As this was the first South Korean study to compare sharp‐ and blunt‐force homicides, the results have practical implications for homicide investigations.     

Comparison of wound patterns in homicide by sharp and blunt force

A comparison of patterns of injuries between sharp force and blunt force homicide was performed. Male predominance was seen in both types of homicides. Most of the victims of sharp force were between 21 and 40 years and those of blunt force between 31 and 40 years. There was no difference in the incidence of victims below 20 years age, but blunt force was almost five times more than sharp force in victims of age above 60 years. Thorax was the commonest site to be involved in sharp force in contrast to head in blunt force. Hand and forearm were the commonest sites of defence injuries in sharp and blunt force homicides, respectively. The majority of the blunt force victims had lesions in only one region in contrast to involvement of 2-4 regions in sharp force. The majority of the victims were killed by acquaintances in blunt force, but criminals always prefer sharp force to kill their victims. Single weapon was more commonly used in blunt force as compared to sharp force. Knife and wooden/iron rods were the weapons of choice in their respective categories. Most of the victims of sharp force were killed outdoor in contrast to victim's own domicile in blunt force.     

Homicide in Adana, Turkey: a 5-year review

Violence is a significant public health problem. Thus, so as to prevent this problem, homicide, the severest form of violence depriving a human being of his right to live, deserves a detailed examination. This study is a retrospective research examining the 2951 cases of medicolegal autopsies in Adana during a period of 5 years (1997-2001). Among these cases, 620, which were determined to be homicidal, were taken into the scope of this study. The cases were examined with respect to sex, age groups, the method used during the act of homicide, the number and the localization of the wounds on the body. A total of 620 (21%) of the medicolegal autopsies conducted within this period were homicides. Of these cases, 515 (83.06%) were male and 105 (16.94%) female, and the rate of the males to females was 4.9; 72.74% of the victims were between the ages of 21 and 50. It was seen that 54.83% of the homicides involved firearms, while 35.16% of the victims were stabbed to death with a cutting object. It was also determined that the victims suffered a single wound in 47.35% of firearm-related murders and 29.35% of stabbings resulted in death. Alcohol was found in the blood of 7.58% of the homicide victims, while none had any illicit drugs.     

Inmate homicides: Killers, victims, motives, and circumstances

Despite popular media depictions, prison homicides are quite infrequent, averaging only four per one hundred thousand inmates annually in U.S. prisons during the current decade and declining over 90 percent in the past thirty years. Only a handful of studies had examined this most serious form of institutional violence. This study examined thirty-five inmate homicides, involving fifty-two perpetrators, occurring in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for 2000-2008. The majority of homicides occurred in inmates’ cells, involved a single assailant, resulted from beatings, or was cross-racial. Often multiple motivations for the homicides were present. Hispanic inmates were overrepresented as perpetrators and victims. Perpetrators and victims were overwhelmingly male, and likely to have records of violent arrests and problematic prison adjustments. A substantial proportion of both perpetrators and victims had suspected or confirmed gang affiliations. Perpetrators were differentiated from victims by younger age, higher IQ scores, greater educational attainment, and sentences for armed robbery.     

Triad-related homicides in Hong Kong

This study provides an overview of the first systematic research on triad-related homicide in a Chinese society. In the 10-year period from 1989 to 1998, 11.9% of all homicides or a total of 95 triad-related homicides were extracted from the Hong Kong Homicide Monitoring Database. These events resulted in 124 victims (13.2 percent of all victims) and involved 526 known offenders. Triad homicides were classified into various types based on different combinations of circumstances, motivation, and outcomes including unintended outcomes.     

Perpetrator related analysis of intentional homicides in the Genf canton (1971-1990)

A retrospective offender-related analysis was conducted on all deliberate homicides committed in the canton of Geneva between 1971 and 1990. The cases analyzed included 97 convicted single perpetrators or accomplices and 93 victims. 21 further homicides remained unsolved. 86.6% of the offenders were male; foreigners were over-represented in comparison with Swiss citizens. The average age was 35 years. In a majority of the cases the offender and the victim were partners, came from the same family or were acquainted with each other. Guns or knives were the most frequently used weapons. The criminal offences tried in Geneva were evaluated also with regard to their legal qualification.     

Homicide in Cape Town, South Africa

All autopsies performed on homicide victims at the Salt River police mortuary, Cape Town, in the first 6 months of 1986 were reviewed. Most of the homicides that had occurred in Cape Town were as a result of stab wounds to the chest. Smaller, but significant, numbers of homicides were as a result of stab wounds to the head and neck, blunt injury to the head, or gunshot wounds. Homicidal burning also has occurred in civil unrest situations. Infanticide was rarely encountered. Alcohol was detected in the homicide victims in 62.9% of cases; 8.4% had a blood alcohol concentration higher than 0.30 g/100 ml. Our figures confirm that Cape Town has one of the highest homicide rates in the world (56.9/100,000 per annum for 1986). Homicides in Cape Town are characterized by assaults with sharp instruments, usually knives, although "pangas," or cane knives, are also commonly used.     

A profile of parental homicide against children

The purpose of this study was to provide a profile of victims and offenders in cases where children were killed by their parents. The data were all incidents (3,459) in which a parent killed a child under age 18, which were recorded in theUniform Crime Reports between 1976 and 1985. In the first week of a child's life, the risk of being killed by a parent was equal for males and females. From 1 week to 15 years, males were the victims in about 55% of all parent-child homicides; the percentage of male victims increased to 77% in the 16–18 age group. Among infants in the first week of life, mothers were almost always the ones who committed the homicide. Between the first week of life and the teenage years, mothers and fathers were about equally likely to kill their child. During the 13–15 year age group, fathers committed 63% of all homicides, and this increased to 80% among the 16–18 year age group. Among very young children, the causes of death tended to be personal weaponds, asphyxiation, or drowning. As age increased, the weapons became predominantly guns and knives.     

Sexual Homicide by Older Male Offenders

Recent research has expanded our understanding of sexual homicide offenders (SHOs). However, little exists beyond case reports for older SHOs. We characterized male SHOs ≥ 55 years, comparing them to typical adult male SHOs who are in their 20s. Analysis of 37 years (1976–2012) of US Supplementary Homicide Reports data provided a large SHO sample (N = 3453). Three case reports provide clinical context for the diverse nature and patterns of older SHOs. Only 32 older male SHOs and no older female SHOs were identified. Murders by older SHOs accounted for only 0.5% of US sexual homicides. Unlike typical SHOs that generally target young adult females, over two‐thirds of older SHO victims were ≥40 years, and one‐third were ≥55 years. Sexual homicides by older SHOs, like sexual homicide in general, decreased over the study period. These crimes, while exceedingly rare, do occur, warranting special consideration.