Double homicide is the intentional killing of two people, which is considered the most serious form of homicide in most countries. Aggravating factors, such as the status of the victim or how the crime was committed, can lead to more severe punishments. In the US, a double homicide can result in successive prison sentences, including life imprisonment or the death penalty. Double homicide is distinct from murder-suicide and does not apply to cases involving more than two victims.
Double homicide is the killing of two people, especially if planned or deliberate. In most countries, the law considers the intentional killing of a person to be the most serious form of homicide and deserving of the most severe penalties for the crime. In many countries, the murder of two people carries the possibility of subsequent life sentences or the death penalty.
Most countries, including the United States and its various jurisdictions, recognize varying degrees of homicide. The degrees correspond to the mental state of the person who commits the crime. Intentional homicide is the most serious form of homicide because it involves a certain amount of deliberation and a conscious decision to inflict death.
Many countries and common law jurisdictions in the United States more severely punish homicide based on “aggravating factors.” These usually concern the status of the victim or how the crime was committed. Aggravating factors, sometimes referred to as “special circumstances,” include when the victim is a child or disabled person, or when the killing was committed in a manner “suggesting wanton cruelty” or involved torture. With rare exceptions, the fact that more than one victim was killed is considered an aggravating circumstance or a special circumstance in the imposition of convictions for double homicide, even if the murders are tried separately.
In the United States, a double homicide is punishable by successive prison sentences, including life imprisonment, one sentence for each victim. In jurisdictions where a life sentence may be paroled, both life sentences must be served before parole. Some US jurisdictions have a prison term for “natural life”. The sentence is extinguished upon the prisoner’s death, unless commuted to years by the state governor. A term of natural life is sometimes imposed by a court as an alternative to the death penalty, or is accepted by a defendant in exchange for the death penalty not sought by prosecutors.
In most US jurisdictions that provide for capital punishment, a double homicide conviction will qualify for the death penalty due to the aggravating factor that more than one person was killed. All states have their own aggravating circumstances and the decision whether to seek the death penalty rests with prosecutors. All but two countries in Europe have abolished the death penalty, Belarus and Latvia being the only countries left with death penalty laws. Many countries, such as China and Cuba, can use capital punishment in special circumstances such as the intentional killing of two people.
Double homicide must be distinguished from murder-suicide. Although two murders are involved, the criminal intent is only in regards to the murder victim and suicide is outside the scope of punishment. The term refers only to the murder of two people and does not apply to cases involving more than two victims.
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