Pa. ranks 4th for murder-suicides

By SUSAN EVANS
The Tribune-Democrat

July 05, 2008 11:00 pm

— Pennsylvania has the third-highest number of murder-suicides in the nation – including 14 cases in just six months – and most involve domestic disputes.
Domestic violence experts say that’s even more reason for potential victims to seek help at the first sign of trouble.
The Violence Policy Center, a national nonprofit group working to reduce violence in America, recently released a new study on murder-suicide cases.
The study collected all reported murder-suicides nationwide during the first six months of 2007. In that time, there were at least 554 deaths in 234 murder-suicides – an average of nine murder-suicides a week.
Almost all murder-suicides, or 88.5 percent, involved a firearm.
Using these figures, the Violence Policy Center estimates that nearly 1,100 Americans die each year in murder-suicides.
Nine states had 10 or more murder-suicides in the six-month period of the study, with Florida and Texas the highest at 24 each. California had 17, and Pennsylvania had 14.
The study also found:
• Of the 554 murder-suicide deaths, 234 were suicides and 320 were homicides. Ninety-five percent of murder-suicides were committed by men.
• Seventy-three percent of all murder-suicides involved an intimate partner – spouse, common-law spouse, ex-spouse, or girlfriend/boyfriend. Of these, 94 percent were women killed by their intimate partners.
• Forty-five of the homicide victims were children and teens less than 18 years of age. Forty-four children and teens less than 18 years of age were survivors who witnessed some aspect of the murder-suicide.
• Most murder-suicides – 75 percent – occurred in the home.

States comparison

Nine states had 10 or more murder-suicides in the first six months of 2007, the most recent statistics available. The rates:
Florida, 24
Texas, 24
California, 17
Pennsylvania, 14
Arizona, 12
Georgie, 12
New York, 11
North Carolina, 10
Ohio, 10