S. Florida may lead nation in murder-suicides, experts say

By Rafael A. Olmeda, Sun-Sentinel, Posted February 18 2002

Sun-Sentinel

The murder comes first. Then the killer knows there’s no turning back, and the weapon he used to take a life becomes the weapon that takes his own.

The media call it “murder-suicide,” and it happened an average of once every six days in Florida in 2001. In Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, the average was once every two weeks. Researcher Donna Cohen, who has studied murder-suicide for more than a decade, thinks Florida leads the nation in the number of occurrences. South Florida, she said, sees it happen more than anywhere in the state.

So far, the South Florida region is keeping pace with last year’s statistics. Four incidents were reported in January, which is equal to last year’s figure. That number doesn’t include two unsuccessful attempts in Palm Beach County in which those involved survived. This year’s most publicized incident took place on Friday, Jan. 18, when Michael Holness shot and killed ex-girlfriend Moriah Pierce on the campus of Broward Community College in Davie.

“It’s definitely the largest cluster,” said Cohen, a professor at the University of South Florida’s Department of Aging and head of the Violence & Injury Prevention (VIP) Program. In 2001, 25 of Florida’s 66 murder-suicides took place in Broward, Palm Beach or Miami-Dade counties. That figure is consistent with past years, according to the statistics Cohen has kept.

“Florida has a large aging population, loose gun control and high suicide rate, and those factors contribute to this state ranking among the highest, if not the highest, in the country,” Cohen said. Her statistics do not include suicide pacts, in which both parties agree to end their lives together.

Cohen found that older people commit murder-suicide more frequently as a percentage of the population, although almost 73 percent are committed by people under age 55.

Trouble cutting ties

Regardless of age, the majority of cases involve a spouse or significant other. Among the younger casualties, the killer is usually the man who can’t accept the end of a romantic relationship. Women account for a much smaller percentage of the killers in this kind of murder-suicide, Cohen found.

“Jealousy and conflict were the most common motivations reported for younger couples,” she wrote in a report for the VIP Program.

Other times the killer is an elderly man, perhaps suffering from dementia and dreading the loss of dignity that accompanies old age. His wife, sometimes ill, sometimes not, becomes the target of the killer’s desire to bring life to an end on his own terms.

Combined, Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties account for more than 30 percent of the state’s population. About 18 percent of the population is over age 65. Murder-suicides happen infrequently enough that any single incident has a noticeable effect on statistics, which helps account for South Florida’s place at the top of the list.

Nebulous numbers

While Cohen keeps close track of the Florida numbers, statistics in the rest of the country are hazy. Law enforcement agencies generally don’t keep track of these crimes because their role effectively ends when the killer takes his life. In most cases, Cohen found, one death will be officially classified a homicide, the other a suicide. Only a deliberate investigation will reveal any link between the two deaths, which makes it impossible to know with any certainty how many times it occurs.

That makes it hard to come up with any solid figures in most of the country. Cohen compared related statistics, such as the overall suicide and homicide rates and a survey of news coverage, to arrive at conservative estimates. She thinks the rates are highest in Florida, California, New York and Texas. In Florida, Cohen communicates regularly with the Medical Examiner’s Offices in every county, so the numbers here are among the most reliable. Cohen also estimates between 1,000 and 1,500 deaths a year are attributable to murder-suicides.

Behavioral patterns

Katherine van Wormer, a sociologist at the University of Northern Iowa who studied murder-suicide for part of a research paper published by the Journal of Criminal Justice, said the Broward Community College incident matches observations she made.

“The precipitating event is usually a break-up which the man cannot handle,” she said. “He is obsessive and believes that without this partner in his life he is as well as dead. He truly believes he cannot live without her. His love is like an addiction.”

Holness, 23, was despondent over his break-up with Pierce. Her friends and relatives said the couple broke up several months before the shooting, but Holness’ family claimed it had only been a few weeks. If Pierce’s friends were right, then Holness was hiding the situation even from those who were closest to him.

“Compared to any ordinary murderer, the suicidal murderer has largely turned his anger within,” van Wormer said.

Patsy Ceros-Livingston, a forensic psychologist in Fort Lauderdale, agreed.

“He took it in and carried it around and dragged it with him everywhere he went until he finally did something about it,” she said.

By continuing to study the incidents, Cohen said she hopes to develop better ways for counselors, law enforcement officers, and families to step in before a broken relationship becomes a tragedy.

“Most perpetrators have thought about the act and planned it,” she said. “That means there is a window of opportunity to try to prevent them.”

Attempt to help

But prevention is tricky, since there’s no way of knowing whether a prevention effort is successful.

“One of the main things we do after an incident is ask ourselves if there was anything we could have done to prevent this,” said Fort Lauderdale Police Sgt. Tim Bronson. Police officers are required to report any suspected domestic violence incidents, but even then it’s impossible to tell if police efforts actually prevented a murder, suicide or both.

“You’ll never know the numbers,” Bronson said. “The best we can do is know we did what we could.”

The Violence and Injury Prevention Program is online at

www.fmhi.usf.edu/amh/homicide-suicide.

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4207.

Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2002

Answers

man.............definately don't want to go to south florida when I am fighting with the honey. Sheesh, think it is in the water or something??

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2002