What were they thinking? Men who murder an intimate partner.

The focus is on cognitions of men who murder an intimate partner and includes thinking prior to and after the murder. Based on the Murder in Britain Study, the qualitative accounts of various professionals included in the case-files of 104 men convicted of murdering a woman partner are used to examine beliefs about intimate relationships, orientations toward violence and previous violence to the victim, as well as subsequent denials, rationalizations, and justifications. We conclude that these and other cognitions are important elements of intimate partner murder and must be challenged and changed in efforts to eliminate nonlethal abuse and murder.