Intentional Homicide: A Fifteen‐Year Study (2000–2014) at the Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Rome “Sapienza”

Abstract

This study analyzes postmortem records from 260 homicide cases autopsied by the Department of Forensic Medicine in Rome from 2000 to 2014. The victims were mainly males (74%) and young (61% aged from 21 to 50 years). Although the victims were mostly Italians, the number of foreign victims (33%) has increased since 1990, primarily due to immigration. The offenders frequently used firearms (39%), particularly in multiple murders. An increase in blunt (20%) and sharp force (32%) weapons was also seen. The primary crime scene was residential (42%), and the head was the most frequently injured body region. Male victims occurred frequently in the context of organized crime (7.6%). In family or intimate-sexual relationships, women were the majority of victims (8%). Forensic pathologists play an important role during investigation. They should consider all the information available to them, including autopsy information, crime scene information, and crime investigation data.

Blunt force homicides in Denmark 1992–2016

“…So, while blunt force homicides in certain areas make out a small proportion of all homicides, it still represents a significant number of deaths, compared to areas with lower homicide rates. In a study from Rome, Italy during 2000–2014 (with an annual homicide rate of around 0.5 per 100,000 and where homicides by firearms represented 39% of homicides), blunt force trauma represented 20% of homicides, roughly translating into an annual blunt force homicide rate equal to the rate in our study [ 27 ].…”

Patterns of homicide in Sfax, Tunisia: A 9‐year cohort study (2011–2019)

“…There are no national statistics on homicide rate in Tunisia, so our aim was to complete the picture by describing trends in recording of homicides in Southern Tunisia (Sfax), relying on pathology records as in the previous Tunisian studies and also elsewhere (e.g. Cipolloni et al., 2020).…”