double murder
Two intentional killings by the same perpetrator, sentenced under § 237
Double murder is the common term for a situation in which two people have been killed intentionally by the same perpetrator or perpetrators. Under Danish law, the concept is not an independent statutory offence label and does not appear as a separate category in the penal code. Both killings are handled legally under the Danish Penal Code (straffeloven) § 237 on manslaughter, which provides that a person who kills another is punished by imprisonment from 5 years up to life.
The provision is formulated with a single killing in mind, but applies correspondingly to several simultaneous or connected killings. When a defendant faces two manslaughter charges, the sentence is determined as a whole and on a concrete basis in light of the overall circumstances and gravity of the case. The number of victims is an aggravating factor in sentencing, as the seriousness of the act is assessed as a single whole.
In practice, in double murder cases the courts will typically impose sentences at the high end of the statutory range, including life imprisonment, particularly where the killings were planned or committed under aggravating circumstances. The precise penalty depends on the specific factual and subjective circumstances of the individual case.
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