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Previous research indicates that the killing method used in homicides may reflect the motivation of the offender and qualities of the victim-offender relationship. The effect of gender and sexual orientation of intimate partner homicide offenders (N = 51,007) was examined with respect to the brutality of killing methods. Guided by previous research and theory, it was hypothesized that homicide brutality will vary with the offender's sexual orientation and gender, such that the percentage of killings coded as brutal will be higher for (a) gay and lesbian relative to heterosexual relations, (b) men relative to women, (c) gay relative to heterosexual men, and (d) lesbian relative to heterosexual women. The rates of intimate partner homicide were also hypothesized to vary with the gender of the partners, such that (a) homicide rates will be higher in gay relative to heterosexual and lesbian couples and (b) homicide rates will be lowest in lesbian couples. The results support all but one prediction derived from the two hypotheses. We predicted that men would kill their partners more brutally than would women, but the results indicate that the opposite is true.
Keywords: homicide methods; gay; lesbian; heterosexual; intimate partner
A significant number of all homicides involve intimate partners (Drach, 2004; Paulozzi, Saltzman, Thompson, & Holmgreen, 2001; Scott & Davies, 2002). Research on intimate partner abuse, of which the most extreme cases culminate in homicide, among heterosexual partners is extensive (Aldridge & Browne, 2003; Dawson & Garner, 1998; Dobash, Dobash, Cavanagh, & Lewis, 2004; Drach, 2004; Dugan, Nagin, & Rosenfeld, 2003; Dutton & Kerry, 1999; Paulsen & Brewer, 2000; Saunders & Browne, 2000; Silverman & Mukherjee, 1987; Wilson & Daly, 1992, 1993, 1996). Similar research on intimate partner abuse among homosexual partners (see Burke & Follingstad, 1999, for a review) has become more prevalent in recent years. However, parallel research on same-sex intimate partner homicide is scarce (Glass, Koziol-McLain, Campbell, & Block, 2004; Puzone, Saltzman, Kresnow, Thompson, & Mercy, 2000).
Guided heuristically by evolutionary psychological theory (applying Darwinian evolutionary theory to psychological processes), this article addresses several gaps in the literature on intimate partner homicide, for both opposite-sex and same-sex partners. The main focus of the current article is on the method of killing of intimate partners according to the gender...