In this presentation an analysis of Dutch homicide cases: forty cases of sexual homicide will be compared with cases of domestic homicide. The study is based on criminal law information and on the forensic mental health reports. The main focus of the study will be on the offence script and patterns of the offences, and the motives and mental condition of persons accused of having committed these serious offences.
Some conclusions: the great majority of sexual homicide perpetrators is male, whereas the victims are mainly female; compared to cases of domestic homicide the sexual homicide group appear to be far more lethal; the methods to commit the offence: mainly hands-on; in contrast to domestic homicide cases homicide suicide rarely happens in sexual homicide cases; the group of female victims to an important extent consists of prostitutes and minors; the domestic homicide group has a good prognosis, whereas the sexual homicide group has the worst. Also psychopathology is present in the majority of cases/motives, and psychosis is rarely diagnosed in the sexual homicide group. We mainly saw personality disorders and psychopathy in this group.