Self-execution, Capital Punishment, and the Economics of Murder: Analysis of UK Statistics Suggests that Suicide by Murder Suspects is not Influenced by the Probability of Execution

During the period when capital punishment was regularly used in England & Wales, the risk of self-execution from suicide, when suspected of murder, greatly dominated the risk of death at the hands of the state. Over the period 1900-1949, even with four years’ data missing, there were 1,540 suicides by those suspected of murder. Using economic analysis, it is found that there is no significant relationship between self-execution & state execution. (16 refs.)