Findings indicate that homicide-parasuicide cannot be interpreted as a variation of homicidal or suicidal behavior but is a unique phenomenon; homicide-parasuicide constitutes a different category of lethal violence with regard to demographic, individual, and event-related characteristics. Few studies have examined the differences between homicide-suicide compared with homicides and suicides. Due to the nature of homicide-suicide, where both victim and perpetrator die, there is little detailed information. This study overcomes this limitation by studying homicide followed by a failed suicide of the perpetrator. Nearly 9,000 cases were screened, with the final analysis consisting of 570 individuals accused of a domestic homicide; 77 committed a serious parasuicide following the offense. These cases when compared to homicides and parasuicides, showed that demographic characteristics of homicide-parasuicide corresponded to studies of successful homicide-suicides. The majority of perpetrators were White males in their 30s, of low socioeconomic status, and with a high degree of psychopathology. Data were collected from cases at the Pieter Baan Centre, a forensic psychiatric observation hospital in the Netherlands. Tables, notes, and references