ABSTRACT
Homicide, the killing of one person by another, encompasses murder and manslaughter, lawful slayings during wartime, executions, euthanasia, and justifiable homicide. To write exhaustively about homicide would, therefore, necessitate several lengthy volumes, with each chapter spread fecklessly thin like jam over too much toast. For this reason, in Homicide: A Forensic Psychology Casebook, we have focused chiefly on unlawful homicide, extending to cases in which the legality of the killing has been subject to much debate and scrutiny. Thus, you will find homicide perpetrators such as George Zimmerman-controversially acquitted of the 2012 manslaughter of Trayvon Martin-alongside the likes of serial murderer Paul Bernardo and rampage killer Elliot Rodger. Where certain types of homicides are better accounted for by sociological and historical analysis than forensic psychology, we have given salience to the more useful academic lens, which incorporates a multitude of theoretical and applied perspectives.
