Warren-Gordon Kiesha, Byers Bryan D, Brodt Stephen J, Wartak Melissa, Biskupski Brian
Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Ball State University, North Quad 248, Muncie, IN 47306, USA.
J Forensic Sci. 2010 Nov;55(6):1592-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01473.x.
Murder–suicide is a relatively uncommon event but as reported by the New York Times, it has occurred and continues to occur yearly. Previous research has indicated that those who commit murder–suicides tend to be men, are in or have been in an intimate relationship with the victim, victims tend to be women, and a firearm is most likely to be used. This study uses a newspaper surveillance methodology to examine such cases. Articles from the New York Times as found in the New York Times Index were coded, analyzed, and examined. The cases, 166 in total, support the findings from prior research. The trend data was examined by cross tabulations and chi-square analysis. The findings suggest that murder–suicides are rare events and when they occur they usually involve a male perpetrator and an intimate partner victim who is either a wife or girlfriend with the event occurring in a private home. A firearm is the most commonly used method for both murders and suicides, particularly if there was more than one murder victim. The authors conclude by suggesting that future research should focus on using the forthcoming data resource in the CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) to examine the occurrence of murder–suicide.
谋杀自杀是一种相对罕见的事件，但据《纽约时报》报道，此类事件每年都有发生且仍在继续。先前的研究表明，实施谋杀自杀的人往往是男性，与受害者处于或曾经处于亲密关系中，受害者往往是女性，且最有可能使用枪支。本研究采用报纸监测方法来研究此类案件。对在《纽约时报索引》中找到的《纽约时报》文章进行编码、分析和研究。总共166起案件支持了先前研究的结果。通过交叉列表和卡方分析对趋势数据进行了研究。研究结果表明，谋杀自杀是罕见事件，当此类事件发生时，通常涉及男性犯罪者和亲密伴侣受害者，受害者为妻子或女友，事件发生在私人住宅中。枪支是谋杀和自杀最常用的手段，特别是如果有多名谋杀受害者的情况下。作者最后建议，未来的研究应侧重于利用疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）国家暴力死亡报告系统（NVDRS）即将推出的数据资源来研究谋杀自杀事件的发生情况。
