Dyadic Death—Revisited

Abstract

Dyadic death, or those instances of homicide followed by suicide of the perpetrator, and/or double suicide pacts, were studied from the case files of the Office of the Medical Examiner of Metropolitan Dade County in Miami, Florida, USA. During the years 1977 until 1983, 65 cases of dyadic death occurred, composed of 57 homicide/suicide pairs, 3 double suicides, 3 double homicide then suicide, and 2 triple homicide then suicide. These accounted for 2.27% of the homicide and 3.09% of the suicides during this time period. The cases were analyzed as to the age, race, sex, cause of death, blood alcohol and drugs detected at autopsy of both the homicide and suicide victims. An analysis was then performed as to who was the instigator or aggressor of the action, the reason for the action, and the age difference of the consorts where applicable. In the majority of cases, one deals with a marriage or love partner who kills the partner, commonly over accusations of infidelity. Many cases showed a large age difference between the male and the female or a reverse from the United States tradition of the male being older than the female in the consortium.