Citation

Saint-Martin P, Bouyssy M, Bathellier S, Sarraj S, O'Byrne P. J. Clin. Forensic Med. 2006; 13(6-8): 331-334.

Affiliation

Institute of Forensic Science, Trousseau Hospital, University Hospital of Tours, 37 044 Tours Cedex 1, France.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jcfm.2006.06.014

PMID

17023192

Abstract

This retrospective study examined homicides in two French departments located in the West of France (Indre-et-Loire and Loir-et-Cher) for a four-year period from 2000 to 2003. During this period 63 homicidal deaths were investigated at the Institute of Forensic Science of Tours (Indre-et-Loire). There were 45 male and 18 female victims with an average homicide rate of 1.55 per 100,000 persons. The mean age of the victims was 42 years-old. Forty-five assailants were identified; their mean age was 38 years-old. The most common method of homicide was the use of firearms (40% of the cases), followed by blunt-force injury (36%) and sharp-force injury (16%). 51% of the victims knew their assailant, a family member in 26% of the cases. Spousal homicides occurred in 16% of the cases. Dyadic death occurred in six cases. A review of the literature compares these findings to other populations.

Language: en