Side Arm Homicide in the Italian Province of Trieste between 1953 and 2002

Abstract

The authors present a complete overview of the phenomenon of side arm homicide, basing the study on the data collected at the Forensic Pathology Unit of the University Of Trieste School Of Medicine. Side arms are the most frequently used homicidal method in the town and province of Trieste in a considered study period of 50 years from 1953 to 2002. The analysis of the collected data shows that the town and province of Trieste are communities still very well disjoined from a reality in which crimes against life are yet very uncommon occurrences. This conclusion is well supported by the fact that it has not been possible to define a category of potential victims, which is on the contrary quite easy among societies where organized crime is consistent and widespread. The popularity of side arm as homicide method in our province supports the hypothesis that these crimes are often not aforethought murders, perpetrated by subjects often afflicted by recorded mental health problems, acting during an insanity raptus. Knives are not only actually the easiest weapons to obtain in a household, but are very easily used as well, even by the subjects not accustomed to handle weapons