The issue of domestic violence has been in the focus of interest of Croatian scholars and the general public for two decades. Many papers have been written on this research topic, but there are few studies on cases of aggravated murder of victims who were previously abused by the perpetrator. To contribute to the discussion and fill the identified gap in the scientific and professional literature, the first part of the paper explains why this is a specific crime compared to other violent crimes. In doing so, it is emphasised that women are at increased risk of losing their lives at the hands of perpetrators with whom they are closely related and that their murder may represent the culmination of earlier various forms of abuse. Particular attention is paid to an analysis of the existing normative framework to combat family/intimate murders and explanations are given for why the legislator has provided the most severe punishment for the offence under Art. 111(3) of the Criminal Code. In the second part of the paper, court practice is examined where an analysis is given of a sample of 23 final judgments of the Supreme Court, 20 judgments of county courts, and two judgments of the High Criminal Court. The aim of the analysis is to determine how the courts apply the complex rules for selecting the type and degree of punishment for perpetrators who have committed aggravated murder of a previously abused victim, and to attempt to identify in them certain regularities and possible deviations.