Victim-Offender Relationships and Their Influence on Crime Brutality and Sentencing Outcomes in Capital Homicide Cases

This study examines capital murder cases in Missouri from 1976 to 2022 to explore how victim-offender relationships relate to both the brutality of homicides and sentencing outcomes. It addresses three main questions: What are the different types of victim-offender relationships in these cases, and how frequently does each type occur? How do these relationships influence sentencing outcomes, particularly the likelihood of receiving the death penalty versus life without parole? And which types of relationships are associated with the highest and lowest levels of brutality? The study uses official court records and applies a coding process to analyze relationship type, sentencing outcomes, and crime characteristics. By focusing on capital homicide cases in a Midwestern state, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of how interpersonal dynamics may shape severity assessments and sentencing decisions in the most serious criminal cases. Findings indicated that social and stranger relationships were the most common victim-offender relationships in Missouri capital homicide cases. Stranger and criminal justice-related relationships were statistically significantly associated with higher likelihoods of receiving the death penalty over a life without the possibility of parole sentence. Stranger relationships were found to be statistically significant with lower brutality scores, when assessing crime brutality which is based upon a scale that assesses only the manner of death.