Examining the Racial Dynamic of the Victim-offender Dyad in Homicide-suicide: Does Intraracial Homicide Encourage Perpetrator Suicide?

Abstract

Objectives: Compared to homicide-only, homicide-suicide is understudied in the criminological literature. This study investigates the victim-offender relationship—one of the most well-established correlates of homicide-suicide—from a new angle. In addition to examining the familiarity/closeness of the victim-offender relationship, this study investigates whether the racial composition (interracial versus intraracial) of the victim-offender dyad impacts the likelihood of committing suicide following homicide. Method: This study uses data on 26,858 homicide and homicide-suicide cases distributed across 3,178 places and 45 U.S. states from the National Violent Death Reporting System appended to information from the American Community Survey. Hierarchical logistic regression models examine the independent and joint contribution of: (1) the familiarity/closeness of the victim-offender relationship; and (2) the racial composition of the victim-offender dyad on homicide-suicide. Results: Killing familiar and same-race victims independently increase the odds of suicide following homicide; additionally, the odds of suicide following homicide are highest for offenders with both familiar and same-race victims. Conclusions: The findings suggest that homicide-suicide research should account for different aspects of the victim-offender relationship. Additionally, the importance of race/ethnicity extends to even the rarest of crimes.