Samenvatting

This article focuses on Dutch homicide cases involving victim burial in a clandestine grave. There is a lack of adequate criminological research about the nature of this kind of homicide. The results indicate that there are differences between the ‘regular’ homicide cases and clandestine burial cases. For example, clandestine burial cases included a higher proportion of sexual homicides. Second, different types of burial cases were analysed through cluster analysis, based on victim, offender and crime characteristics. Three distinct types of burial cases were defined which differ substantially with respect to the gender of the victim, where the burial took place and the relationship between victim and offender.