Murder-suicides are defined as the murder of at least one person and the suicide of the offender following the murder. The intention to commit suicide must be primary. In most cases, a male offender kills a female victim after a separation. The current analysis was the first analysis of the typology of murder-suicides in Berlin. We analyzed the autopsy files of the Institute for Forensic Medicine of the Charité University Medicine Berlin and of the City Institute for Forensic Medicine Berlin. We performed descriptive and statistical analyses of cases between 2005 and 2013. We identified 17 murder-suicides. All 17 offenders were male, and 20 of the victims (90%) were female. The offenders used firearms in the majority of the cases. In seven cases, the victims and offenders were at least 80 years old. The average age of the offenders was 63 years. Disease was the motive in 6 cases involving older offenders. Our study might support the development of prevention strategies. In this regard, it is important to build a database for murder-suicides in Germany and other countries, to formulate a uniform definition of murder-suicide, to carry out nationwide interdisciplinary studies on this topic and to improve the existing health care structures, especially for older adults and people with depression.

谋杀-自杀被定义为谋杀至少一个人，并在谋杀后犯罪者自杀。自杀意图必须是首要的。在大多数情况下，男性罪犯在分居后杀死女性受害者。当前的分析是对柏林谋杀自杀类型的首次分析。我们分析了柏林夏里特大学医学法医学研究所和柏林市法医学研究所的尸检文件。我们对 2005 年至 2013 年间的案件进行了描述性和统计分析。我们确定了 17 起谋杀自杀案。所有 17 名罪犯都是男性，受害者中有 20 人（90%）是女性。在大多数情况下，罪犯使用枪支。在 7 起案件中，受害者和犯罪人至少 80 岁。罪犯的平均年龄为63岁。在涉及老年罪犯的 6 起案件中，疾病是动机。我们的研究可能支持制定预防策略。在这方面，建立德国和其他国家的谋杀-自杀数据库，制定谋杀-自杀的统一定义，在全国范围内开展跨学科研究，改善现有的医疗保健结构，特别是对于老年人和抑郁症患者。