Thematic analysis revealed a scenario in which the violence occurs when individuals who know each other reasonably well find themselves caught in a conflict that cannot be resolved through conventional means; violence becomes a planned device of conflict resolution. In contrast to other masculine scenarios of homicide, the violence is not a spontaneous outgrowth of a fight, or a killing that takes place in the course of other crime, nor is it an attempt to exert control over the behavior of a sexual partner. Forty-one cases, or approximately 10 percent of all homicide, matched the elements of this scenario. 12 references (Author abstract modified)