Margo Wilson’s Contributions to the Chicago Homicide Dataset

Abstract

Margo Wilson has been crucial to the development of the Chicago Homicide Data Set (CHD) beginning in 1987, when she and Martin Daly joined the project. She spent 2 years collecting detailed information on intimate partner homicides, and inspired the addition of variables, such as whether the victim and offender resided together, the offender’s sexual jealousy, the offender’s sexual rivalry, and whether the offender was motivated by the victim’s estrangement or attempted desertion. This article reviews Margo Wilson’s many contributions and presents analyses showing the importance of differentiating between sexual jealousy and sexual rivalry in research on intimate partner homicide.