Typology of murder-suicides in Berlin according to a longitudinal study based on autopsy files

Abstract

Murder-suicides are defined as the murder of at least one person and the suicide of the offender following the murder. The intention to commit suicide must be primary. In most cases, a male offender kills a female victim after a separation. The current analysis was the first analysis of the typology of murder-suicides in Berlin. We analyzed the autopsy files of the Institute for Forensic Medicine of the Charité University Medicine Berlin and of the City Institute for Forensic Medicine Berlin. We performed descriptive and statistical analyses of cases between 2005 and 2013. We identified 17 murder-suicides. All 17 offenders were male, and 20 of the victims (90%) were female. The offenders used firearms in the majority of the cases. In seven cases, the victims and offenders were at least 80 years old. The average age of the offenders was 63 years. Disease was the motive in 6 cases involving older offenders. Our study might support the development of prevention strategies. In this regard, it is important to build a database for murder-suicides in Germany and other countries, to formulate a uniform definition of murder-suicide, to carry out nationwide interdisciplinary studies on this topic and to improve the existing health care structures, especially for older adults and people with depression.

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

“…Older adult victims were more prevalent than child or adult victims. More than half of the victims received care, had the perpetrators as their caregivers, and more victims were older women, as observed in previous studies (Karch & Nunn, 2011;Malphurs & Cohen, 2005;Zimmermann & Tsokos, 2021). In this study, half of the HS cases among older adult victims in Japan occurred between parents and children.…”

Neuropathological Changes in the Brains of Suicide Killers

“…It is a phenomenon that is classified both as suicide and as homicide, however, it also has separate, distinguishing characteristics that are different from such acts committed individually. As studies show, the perpetrators of murder–suicide are men in 80–90% of cases, and the victims are women (70–80%) and children [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. In order not to introduce terminological ambiguity, we have assumed that the term “murder–suicide” used in this paper refers to a particular type of homicide that occurs as a result of a deliberate and planned action.…”