Combined homicide-suicide in Galveston County

Combined homicide-suicides have been classified based on the psychopatholog y of the perpetrator and the nature of the relationship between perpetrator and victim(s). To further understand the nature of this tragic phenomenon and to test the validity and practicality of a previously suggested classif ication system, investigators systematically collected data on all combined homicide-suicide events that occurred in Galveston County, Texas over a co ntinuous 18-year period (n = 20). The most common psychopathological findin g for perpetrators was high serum alcohol levels that suggested intoxicatio n. Most combined homicide-suicides fell into one of the relational categori es and most of these, as predicted, were of the consortial type, possessive subtype. As expected, due to the small sample size, the less common types of combined homicide-suicide were not represented in this sample.