Abstract

Background: The offence of homicide is a global phenomenon but the circumstances of the offence are grossly under reported in Africa
Aim: The aim of the study was to determine offenders' profile and characteristics of victims and offence
Methods: The study was a crosssectional study of 316 consenting homicide offenders in Jimma Prison. Ethiopia It involved face to face interview with offenders in two stages using sociodemographic and substance use questionnaires, Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ). Structured Clinical Interview for
DSM ( SCID-IV) and Standard Psychiatric interview. The victims' and offence characteristics were also documented.
Results: The offenders were :’edommantlymales(94.3%).witha mean age of 30.6 years ± 12.7 which as significantly lower than the
victims (34.6 ± 30 years) p < 0.001. More than half (57.0%) of the . -'cetrators were married . Majority victims (89.9%) were also males
and most ( 48.7% ) were acquaintances /neighbours. Homicide was premeditated in 51 2% of cases, occurred outdoors i 58.9% of cases, and the
rommonest method was striking with a stick (34.8%) with selfdefense as the commonest motive (23.1%).