ABSTRACT
Of the 424 male–male murders in the Murder Study, 72 cases (17%) involved men murdering other men in the context of the family. Using evidence from casefiles, we describe the main patterns of all Family Murders including: background, relationships, conflicts/disputes, drinking/drugs, murder event, cause of death, and other offenses. Then, we identify five subtypes of Family Murders: 1) blood relatives; 2) gay intimate partners; 3) collateral intimate partner murders – male victims; 4) family feuds and feuding families; and 5) brothers against others. Narrative accounts illustrate the diversity of each subtype. Most family murders were committed by one man in the home of the victim, and no witnesses. Most perpetrators were drinking, and those who were drinking were drunk. Half of the victims were also drinking and drunk. Half of the murder events involved an ongoing dispute, and even more involved some kind of confrontation at the time Stabbing was the usual cause of death, and the majority of deaths involved five or more injuries Nearly one-third of the men committed a second offense, usually burglary.
