THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE HAS APPEARED IN THE RECORD ON May 14, 2003

Scott Peterson was a natural suspect

When the media spotlight focused on Scott Peterson, the 30-year old Californian accused of murdering his pregnant wife and unborn son, the public reacted with more than just anger and disgust. Those who knew little about spousal homicides could hardly believe that a husband was capable of killing his pregnant wife.

On the other hand, for those of us who have had to deal with the conduct of humans at their most deviant, Peterson was a natural suspect. Having prosecuted my share of degenerate wife abusers I know for a fact that while his alleged conduct was horrible it was not without precedent. Such crimes occur far more often than most people realize.

If Scott Peterson was a suspect from the outset of the criminal investigation, it was in no small part due to decades of homicide statistics. These statistics, which governments regularly compile, have day in and day out assisted police investigators in the pursuit of wife killers. They serve as a reminder to criminal homicide investigators that whenever a wife is murdered the odds are much higher that she was slain by a current spouse or an ex-spouse than by a stranger.

Therefore, when Lacy Peterson vanished before Christmas under suspicious circumstances, it was reasonable to expect that the investigation could lead to her husband, despite his public pleas to help locate her.


All about homicide statistics

In recent years the proportion of homicides committed by an acquaintance or family member in Canada has remained close to 80 percent. In 2001 alone, only 13 percent of all solved homicides involved strangers. Forty-five percent were committed by an acquaintance and 43% by a family member.

The situation is not much different in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Justice statistics, more than 33 percent of all the women slain nation wide were killed by their husbands or boyfriends, past or current.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation contends that in the U.S. there are four women murdered by their husbands or boyfriends every day. On that basis alone, the accumulated number of victims is greater than the number of soldiers killed in the Vietnam War.

Wives also murder their spouses

In part because of a few high profile murder trials the general impression is that husbands murder wives considerably more than wives murder husbands. On the basis of a 1994 US Department of Justice study this was proven to be untrue. The study analyzed 10,000 cases involving family murders and found that women accounted for more than 40 percent of defendants in murder cases.

In Canada, the proportion of wives who murder their husbands is closer to 25 percent. Of the 2600 spousal homicides recorded since 1974, seventy seven percent have been against women. In 2000, three in four victims of spousal homicide were female.



Homicide statistics regarding pregnant wives

If Scott Petterson is found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife, it will not come as much of a surprise to experienced criminal prosecutors and investigators. Homicide
statistics prove that most pregnant women are also killed by people they know, such as husbands or boyfriends .

According to a 2001 study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, approximately 20 percent of Maryland women who died during pregnancy were murdered. This finding appears to support other studies that have found that homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women outside of medical complications.


In a study published by the Department of Justice Canada's Research and Statistics Division in December 2001, pregnancy was considered as one of six factors why females are at a greater risk of being murdered by their intimate partners. The other risks include separation or divorce, presence of guns, alcohol abuse and a history of violence.



Explanations regarding spousal homicides

Just as most victims know their killers, most homicides arise out of disputes between family or friends. This is especially true when it comes to spousal homicides. According to the Canadian Department of Justice 's Research and Statistics Division, between 1991 and 2000, 58% of spousal homicides followed a history of reported domestic violence. A further breakdown of the numbers indicated that the most frequently cited motives in cases of spousal homicides were arguments (46%) and jealousy (21%).

The US Justice Department report on "murder in families" suggests that spousal murder is "a primarily a psychological issue of pervasive familial violence on all sides, generated by the passions of family interaction". Despite the different reasons why men kill their spouses, some experts contend that all spousal homicides share one common denominator, namely the need for control.

Why pregnant wives?

Anyone who believes that pregnancy necessarily acts as a restraining factor against abusive partners is mistaken. In a relationship already undermined by spousal abuse, pregnancy is just as likely to lead to an escalation of violence. This fact was made crystal clear by the U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary when it concluded that nearly 50 percent of abusive husbands batter their pregnant wives.

According to psychologists, in relationships where domineering men are violent towards their intimate partners, pregnancy can make them feel that they are not getting the attention they deserve and that they are loosing control over their partners. In their twisted state of mind, murder becomes the ultimate demonstration of their obsession to control.

Other cases have involved husbands who murdered their pregnant wives out of the belief that their wives and unborn children had become an obstacle to the type of lifestyle they wanted. In many such instances the husbands were engaged in an extramarital affair.

Finally, there have been cases when the murder of pregnant wives was strictly money-driven.

Scott Peterson Case

Although Scott Peterson confessed to having carried on an adulterous affair just weeks before his wife's disappearance that alone does not prove that he was the author of his wife's murder. Still, the District Attorney is bound to develop the infidelity theme before the jury in order to establish motive.

Undoubtedly, as the criminal case develops before a court of law, many of us will be acting as armchair jurors, prepared to weigh the evidence and to determine if Peterson fits the classic mold of a wife killer.

Lest it be forgotten, if he is found guilty, he will join the ranks of countless other degenerate wife killers who had previously sworn an oath to love and honor their victims in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.