Conjugal homicide is a situation where one person murders another person with whom he or she is involved through a matrimonial, quasi-matrimonial or other romantic relationship, the study of this type of homicide is based on the entirety of conjugal murders known to police (77) and committed in different municipalities on the island of Montreal during two time periods, namely 1954 to 1962 and 1985 to 1989. The great majority of these crimes are committed by a man onto a woman. Analyses show that possessiveness — understood to be the desire of one person to exclusively control the other — is by far the reason which leads a man to murder the woman he supposedly loves. However, this desire to possess or control is not in itself sufficient for a man to execute his criminal activity, since a number of conditions must coexist : the woman questions her relationship with the man ; the man may physically strike the woman ; the man has the advantage of greater physical strength; the period of time involved is sufficiently lengthy allowing the crisis to develop and enter its critical phase and finally, the perpetrator succeeds in surpassing the inhibitions which initially impede one from killing another.

Les auteurs considèrent les changements dans la fréquence et les caractéristiques des homicides conjugaux commis sur l'île de Montréal de 1954 à 1962 et les comparent avec ceux qui se sont produits entre 1985 et 1989. Pendant ces dernières années, les homicides de nature conjugale sont trois fois plus fréquents qu'auparavant, et cette augmentation se concentre chez les couples instables ou brisés. Cependant, hier comme aujourd'hui, la violence mortelle est dirigée contre les femmes et elle se déroule principalement à la résidence qu'elles habitent avec l'homme qui leur enlève la vie.This article brings forth the elements of variation and continuity with regard to conjugal homicides committed on the Island of Montreal between 1954 and 1962, comparing them with those committed between 1985 and 1989. In these latter years, conjugal homicides have been subject to a threefold increase, with the increment primarily occuring among unstable or broken couples. However, at present as in the past, this type of violence is primarily directed toward women, and for the most part occurs in the place of residence that a woman shares with the very man who will eventually take her life

In this article, we will focus on the frequency and characteristics of conjugal homicides which occurred in Montréal between 1954 and 1962, and compare these crimes with those taking place between 1985 and 1989. The comparison of the main aspects of the phenomenon shows that the number of such crimes has increased steadily from one period to the next. During these two periods, women formed the majority of the victims and men, the perpetrators. The individual factors (mental illness, alcohol, despair) that may trigger the expression of violence do not account for all homicides. In fact, these crimes are often the ultimate demonstration of the control some men have over their wives. We will examine the social implications lying at the root of some men's desire to control their wives to the point of killing them when they fail to meet their expectations