The article is devoted to the study of law enforcement practice in criminal cases of crimes directed against the life of one of the spouses in families of the Tver, Yaroslavl and Tobolsk provinces in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. The authors examine the class affiliation of the parties, the authorities in which cases of murder of wives and husbands were considered, the causes of the crimes. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of legislation on various types of murders: intentional and accidental, intentional and vice versa, committed in a fight, in conspiracy, due to a painful state of mind and intoxication, due to light and severe beatings, poisoning. Both gender motives have been identified: male – jealousy (“severe insult from the murdered person”), female – the desire to avoid the threat of deprivation of life, and general – the intention to get rid of the obstacle to entering into a new marriage if the killer has a lover, hatred of spouse. The authors highlight aggravating and mitigating circumstances of crimes committed by spouses, as well as the existing methods to help avoid punishment.