Female-perpetrated spousal homicides The case of Fiji

Abstract

The paucity of empirical and theoretical research on women and lethal violence has been widely noted in homicide literature. While there has been substantial growth in published research over the last fifteen years, a majority of this literature has focused on Western industrialized nations. This study examined the four cases of female-perpetrated marital homicides that occurred in Fiji during an eleven-year period. Results are consistent with previous research indicating that homicidal women kill predisposed or latent victims and kill at home. Striking differences between husband murders in Fiji and Western nations were also noted: Women who killed their conjugal partners in Fiji constituted a minuscule proportion of homicidal spouses in the society, did not use guns to perpetrate the crimes, and planned and executed their crimes with male accomplices. Each of the four cases was profiled in the text to show characteristics of victims and perpetrators, the methods of killing, and the circumstances surrounding the lethal attacks.