Simon Gittany Murder

1. What type of homicide is featured in this case? 

The type of homicide featured in The Simon Gittany Murder Case is Intimate Partner Homicide (IPH) which in this case is specifically Intimate Femicide. Intimate Femicide (IF) is applicable here as the offender Simon Gittany and the victim Lisa Harnum were in an intimate relationship. (NSWSC 1737, 2013.para 2) They were living together and engaged to be married at the time of the murder and the victim was female.

1. What are the main characteristics of the offender (eg. age, ethnicity, occupation, previous criminal history, previous victimisation, health-related issues, family history)? 

Gittany has 5 siblings was raised in Australia, is of Lebanese ethnicity and was 38 at the time of the murder. He appears to have had a stable upbringing with his family described as “close knit”. (NSWSC 49, 2014. para 45)His parents didn’t expect him to pay rent when he lived with them and his mother did everything for him. He stated that it was "like living in a hotel".

After completing is HSC Gittany worked as a tiler while attending TAFE, he did not finish this course. His work was sporadic, and he generally did not remain at any job for longer than 6 months. (NSWSC 49, 2014. para 45) Gittany started but did not complete many courses such as religious training and dramatic training. Gittany worked for three years as an advertising account manager for the Sydney Morning Herald in his 30s and at the time of his arrest he claimed to be working for Job Search, despite there being no record of this. (NSWSC 49, 2014. para 54)
As a younger man Gittany developed a criminal history with numerous convictions including assault occasioning actual bodily harm at 18 (NSWSC 49, 2014. para 46). At 21 he was convicted of 2 counts of receiving stolen property and the malicious wounding of a police officer in the execution of his duty; severing a portion of the officer’s ear. (NSWSC 49, 2014. para 47 & 48). In 2001, Gittany was convicted of supplying prohibited drugs and having the goods on him which were thought to be stolen. (NSWSC 49, 2014. para 48)

1. To what extent are these offender characteristics similar to or different from general patterns in offenders who commit this particular type of homicide? 

Cussen & Bryant (2015) conducted a study from 2002 – 2012 analyzing the characteristics of domestic/family homicide. It showed that Intimate Partner Homicide (IPH) accounted for 56% of all domestic murders, and that of these murders, 44% of them had a previous history of domestic violence with the majority of victims being females. According to Chan & Payne (2013) 49% of IPH resulted from an argument. Häggström and Petersson (2012) discussed in their paper that common traits related to IPH are possessiveness, jealousy and estrangement.