Female intimate partner homicide: clinical and criminological issues

Female intimate partner homicide (FIPH) is a fatal complication of domestic violence. The aim of this study was to describe the socio-demographic, clinical and criminological characteristics of male perpetrators of FIPH and to compare them to the perpetrators of extrafamilial homicide and the perpetrators of intrafamilial homicide other than FIPH. Between 1975 and 2005, 32 FIPH were perpetrated in the region of Angers (France), and these were compared to 26 intrafamilial homicides other than FIPH and to 97 extrafamilial homicides perpetrated in the same period, in the same region. The socio-demographic, clinical and criminological data were collected from psychiatric expert reports and medical files. The mean age of the FIPH perpetrators was 37.8years. They were professionally active, in majority as manual workers. They had a psychiatric record (69%), a previous criminal record (31%), and a history of violence against others (47%). Half of these perpetrators also had experienced a traumatic event before the age of 18. Compared to extrafamilial homicide perpetrators, FIPH perpetrators occupied more frequently a manual job and had prior criminal records less frequently. In the majority of cases of FIPH and intrafamilial homicide, the murder occurred in the evening, at the victim's home, and while the perpetrator was intoxicated. FIPH was mostly premeditated and was accompanied four times less frequently by another criminal behaviour compared to extrafamilial homicide. The FIPH perpetrators had more depressive symptoms and suicidal ideations when committing the crime and remained on the crime scene more often than extrafamilial homicide perpetrators who mostly attempted to flee the crime scene. FIPH perpetrators and extra- and intrafamilial homicide perpetrators were found criminally responsible in half of the cases. The socio-demographic, clinical and criminological characteristics of FIPH perpetrators were not statistically different from those of perpetrators of another intrafamilial homicide except that conflict preceded FIPH more frequently. Identification of specific features of FIPH could contribute to the early identification of domestic violence at risk of becoming lethal and to the elaboration of preventive strategies.