Female homicide offenders have greatly increased mortality from unnatural deaths

Abstract

The mortality of female homicidal offenders has scarcely been studied. Our aim was to examine the mortality of homicidal women in Finland using a representative nation-wide material. The data consisted of all 132 women who underwent forensic psychiatric examinations after committing homicide or attempted homicide in 1982-1992. We analysed their rate and cause of death during follow-up using standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) and the official classification of death. The mean follow-up time for dead subjects was 7 years (S.D. 4), and for the rest 11 years (S.D. 3). There were 22 observed deaths, the expected value being 1.3 (SMR 17.4). The SMR for unnatural deaths was 226 and for suicides 425. The SMRs for women below 40 years were over 220. In conclusion, homicidal women have an over 200-fold risk of unnatural death, rising to over 400-fold for suicide. This should be taken into consideration in planning discharge programmes for homicidal offenders.