Why Do They Kill?

Men Who Murder Their Intimate Partners

De: David Adams

Narrado por: Marlin May

Moving backward from the murders they committed through their adult lives, relationship histories, and childhoods, the author sought to understand what motivates the men to kill. The patterns he found reveal that the murders were neither impulsive crimes of passion nor were they indiscriminate.

Why Do They Kill? is the first audiobook to profile different types of wife killers and to examine the courtship patterns of abusive men. The author shows that wife murders are not, for the most part, "crimes of passion" but culminations of lifelong predisposing factors of the men who murder, and many elements of their crimes are foretold by their past behavior in intimate relationships.

Key turning points of these relationships include the first emergence of the man's violence, his blaming of the victim, her attempts to resist, his escalation, her attempts to end the relationship, and his punishment for her defiance. Critical perspective on the men's accounts comes from interviews with victims of attempted homicide (standing in for the murder victims) who survived shootings, stabbings, and strangulation. These women detail their partners' escalating patterns of child abuse, sexual violence, terroristic threats, and stalking. The section on help-seeking patterns of victims helps to dispel notions of "learned helplessness" among victims.

The book is published by Vanderbilt University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2011 Vanderbilt University Press (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks

Reseñas de la Crítica

"From this work we can improve our threat assessment and offer better information for victims." (Deborah D. Tucker, executive director, National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence)

"A compelling read." (Neil Websdale, author of Understanding Domestic Homicide)

Interesting study

David Adams’ book is a sobering read. It details real life incidents of why and how men abuse and murder their partners. He’s done extensive research and doesn’t pull punches when he talks about abuse and murder. The book gets bogged down a bit with all the statistics but they show Adams has done his research and knows his subject. Marlin May’s narration is straight-forward and keeps the book interesting and relevant. I’d think it would be hard to narrate some of the cases listed in the book, but May does it in a calm and professional manner. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in why men kill their intimate partners.