Crime of passion

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For other uses, see Crime of passion (disambiguation).

triangular love scene as seen by painter Ingres in this scene of The Divine Comedy (Dante Alighieri). Jealousy is a strong feeling involved in such a crime profile.

A crime of passion, in popular usage, refers to a crime in which the perpetrator commits a crime, especially assault or murder, against a spouse or other loved one because of sudden strong impulse such as a jealous rage or heartbreak rather than as a premeditated crime. A typical crime of passion, for example, might involve a husband who discovers his wife has made of him a cuckold and proceeds to brutally batter or even kill the man with whom she was involved. While the concept of the crime of passion is not officially recognized in law, it is sometimes used by defense lawyers because in popular opinion, if not in courts of law, the commission of murder or of grievous bodily harm is viewed more sympathetically when it is a crime of passion.

Societies in which honor forms a governing principle may react similarly to altercations caused by personal insults or may defer immediate action preferring to consult among family members and act in concert.

In some countries, notably France, crime passionnel (or crime of passion) was a valid defense during murder cases; during the 19th century, some cases could be a custodial sentence for two years for the murderer, while the spouse was dead; this ended in France as the Napoleonic code was updated in the 1970s so that specific father's authority upon his whole family was over.