When compared to men who used nonlethal violence against their female partners, men who kill their partners were more likely to display possessiveness and jealously and were more likely to be separated from their partner at the time of the killing. Men who used lethal violence against a female partner were also more likely to have used violence against a previous partner, to have sexually assaulted and strangled the current victim, and to have used a weapon or instrument in the attack. Interestingly, they were less likely to have previously used violence against the woman they killed. Men who killed were less likely than men who used nonlethal violence to have been drunk at the time of the attack. The findings suggest there is not a simple linear progression from nonlethal to lethal violence in the case of woman battering. The authors point out that this conclusion presents problems for the burgeoning risk assessment industry. Data were drawn from 2 studies: the Violent Men Study, which included 122 male participants who were convicted of an offense against a female partner involving nonlethal violence, and the Murder in Britain study, which included a sample of 106 men convicted of murdering their female partners. The 3-year Violent Men Study gathered data via in-depth interviews that probed the occurrence and frequency of violence throughout the relationship. The 3-year Murder in Britain study investigated all types of murder and involved data drawn from the case files of convicted murderers. Chi-square analyses were used to assess the level of statistical significance of specific comparisons between the lethal and nonlethal groups. Tables, notes, references