ABSTRACT
This chapter makes links between coercive controlling behavior, intimate partner femicide (IPF) specifically and detection avoidance (DA). It argues that coercive control in relationships continues after an IPF in the form of DA, and that DA is used as a form of coercive control in planning and threatening the IPF. The chapter proposes that offenders use DA for more than just avoiding detection, to continue to control their victim(s) in both life and death by exploring how and why intimate partner homicides (IPH) occur and using numerous case examples. In Ferguson’s examination of 115 staged homicides (63 staged IPH), there was evidence that 36% of the murders were planned in advance (note that levels of planning were unknown in the majority of cases). Planning was determined by offenders bringing weapons to the scene or the presence of DA before the homicide, such as by securing an alibi.
