Most spouse killers had no previous record: study
Updated Thu. Oct. 11 2007 10:20 AM ET
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA -- A Statistics Canada study says about three-quarters of people accused of spousal homicide or attempted homicide had no police record of previous abuse.
The study, which looks at 11 years of police data, says only 26 per cent had been accused of earlier spousal violence and only four per cent were considered chronic abusers, with four or more previous incidents reported to police.
The paper says this could mean there was no previous abuse and the killing or attempted killing came out of the blue, or previous abuse may not have been reported.
It says 82 per cent of killers were men and that men were far more likely to have a previous record of abuse.
In nine out of 10 cases where women were accused of killing or trying to kill a husband, the attack was the first recorded incident of abuse.
The study also found that in cases where there was previous abuse, the episodes become more frequent in the period just preceding the major attack.