Collateral intimate partner homicide

Abstract

Collateral intimate partner homicide (CIPH) is an underinvestigated genre of intimate partner violence (IPV) where an individual(s) connected to the IPV victim is murdered. We conducted a content analysis of a statewide database of CIPH newspaper articles (1990-2007). Out of 111 collateral murder victims, there were 84 IPV female focal victims and 84 male perpetrators. The most frequently reported CIPH decedent was the focal victim's new partner (30%); 45% of focal victims were themselves killed. News reports framed CIPH as the unexpected result of interpersonal conflict, despite evidence of a systematic pattern of coercion and violence that capitulated in murder. © The Author(s) 2013.