History Main / TilMurderDoUsPart

* This is a staple of many Creator/InvestigationDiscovery shows.

* Taken to an extreme degree in ''{{Monk}}'', and somewhat less so in ''{{Psych}}'', where pretty much every other mystery ends with someone trying to kill their spouse, oft times with little reason beyond just wanting to do it. The worst example was that one time in Monk where the husband found a suicide note his wife wrote years ago, and decided to kill his wife simply because he realized he ''could'' with no risk.

* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', Selma marries deranged serial killer Sideshow Bob, who plans to kill her on their wedding night, and then go after his now-nephew Bart. [[spoiler: Luckily, Bart is able to convince the family of Bob's intentions, and Selma divorces him.]]

* The Creator/AlfredHitchcock movie ''Suspicion'' focuses on a woman who is frightened that her husband killed his friend and is trying to kill her. [[spoiler:Turns out he didn't, and he isn't.]]

** [[spoiler: ''Death on the Nile.'']]
** [[spoiler: ''Murder in Mesopotamia.'']]

** The killer from [[spoiler: ''Evil Under the Sun'']] has this as part of his backstory, though it isn't the case for the main murder.

* ''Hitman: Blood Money'' features a mission called "'Til Death Do Us Part" wherein the player must kill the groom at a wedding. It is implied that the bride is the one who called the hit. There are instances where the groom's death will cause her to say "Finally."

* [[spoiler:Julia Valerian]] poisons her [[DomesticAbuse abusive]] second husband in ''[[Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion A Voice in the Wind]]''.

* A good chunk of ''MrAndMrsSmith'' involves the titular couple trying to kill one another.

* Played with in ''ComicBook/BatmanAdventures'' #16, where the Joker starts reciprocating Harley Quinn's affections, and even proposes to her -- just after she receives a letter informing her she's inherited a fortune. The twist is that [[spoiler:the letter is a fake, which Harley sent herself; she's GenreSavvy enough to realise it will cause the Joker to marry and murder her, but mad enough to believe that if she reveals the truth once they're married, he'll have no reason to murder her and they'll live happily ever after]].
** The really messed up part? [[spoiler: In the closest thing the Joker gets to a "sweet" moment, he finds it incredibly romantic that Harley went to such lengths and agrees to marry her anyway. Then Batman punches him in the face. "You hit a man while he's in love? That's fighting dirty!"]]

** Three of the stories in ''The Tuesday Club Murders''.

* Happens in the [[MysteryScienceTheatre3000 MST]]ed film ''TheScreamingSkull'' with the husband trying to murder his new wife, just like he did to the old one.
* In ''SoIMarriedAnAxeMurderer'' Mike Meyers thinks his new wife is one of these.

* Done to {{Dracula}}, of all people, in ''Film/SonOfDracula''.

* Variant in ''FinalFantasyX'': Yuna marries Seymour as part of a ploy to get him [[DeaderThanDead Sent]] (the only way to [[BackFromTheDead kill someone off]] [[DeathIsCheap for good]] [[OurSoulsAreDifferent in that 'verse]]), she figures he'll be too... "distracted" to put a stop to her until it's too late. And Seymour himself is marrying Yuna as part of a ploy to get her to become attached to him, as he knows [[spoiler:that only ThePowerOfLove can kill [[CosmicHorror Sin]], and thus, once he gets Yuna to love him, he will become her [[SummonMagic Final Aeon]] and become Sin, which will kill Yuna in the process]]. So, in short, ''both'' of them are planning to off the other.

* Played with in ''BatmanAdventures'' #16, where the Joker starts reciprocating Harley Quinn's affections, and even proposes to her -- just after she receives a letter informing her she's inherited a fortune. The twist is that [[spoiler:the letter is a fake, which Harley sent herself; she's GenreSavvy enough to realise it will cause the Joker to marry and murder her, but mad enough to believe that if she reveals the truth once they're married, he'll have no reason to murder her and they'll live happily ever after]].

** The really messed up part? [[spoiler: In the closest thing the Joker gets to a "sweet" moment, he finds it incredibly romantic that Harley went to such lengths and agrees to marry her anyway.]]

Somone is attempting to kill their spouse (or already has), either to collect on life insurance, because the [[HearingVoices voices in their head]] told them to do it, or for some other reason. Maybe they're really a serial killer who marries their victims and then [[TheBluebeard offs them in succession]]. Or maybe DivorceRequiresDeath in this setting.

Most often the couple is newly wed, and the unfortunate victim usually won't suspect a thing until after the wedding, when things start to take a turn for the disturbing.

Compare TheBluebeard and BlackWidow, who do this over and over again.

A common parody is to have the protagonist ''think'' his spouse is trying to do this, often with several StabTheSalad moments.

!!Examples:

* Happens in the [[{{MysteryScienceTheatre3000}} MST]]ed film ''TheScreamingSkull'' with the husband trying to murder his new wife, just like he did to the old one.

* The AlfredHitchcock movie ''Suspicion'' focuses on a woman who is frightened that her husband killed his friend and is trying to kill her. [[spoiler:Turns out he didn't, and he isn't.]]

* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', Selma marries deranged serial killer Sideshow Bob, who plans to kill her on their wedding night, and then go after his now-nephew Bart. [[spoiler: Luckily, Bart is able to convince the family of Bob's intentions, and Selma divorces him.]]

* Done to {{Dracula}}, of all people, in ''{{Son of Dracula}}''.

* ''Hitman: Blood Money'' features a mission called "'Til Death Do Us Part" wherein the player must kill the groom at a wedding. It is implied that the bride is the one who called the hit. There are instances where the grooms death will cause her to say "Finally."

* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', Selma marries deranged serial killer Sideshow Bob, who plans to kill her on their wedding night, and then go after his now-nephew Bart. Luckily, Bart is able to convince the family of Bob's intentions, and Selma divorces him.

Somone is attempting to kill their spouse (or already has), either to collect on life insurance, because the [[HearingVoices voices in their head]] told them to do it, or for some other reason. Maybe they're really a serial killer who marries their victims and then [[TheBluebeard offs them in succession]].

* Variant in ''FinalFantasyX'': Yuna marries Seymour as part of a ploy to get him [[DeaderThanDead Sent]] (the only way to [[BackFromTheDead kill someone off]] [[DeathIsCheap for good]] [[OurSoulsAreDifferent in that 'verse]]), she figures he'll be too... [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean "distracted"]] to put a stop to her until it's too late. And Seymour himself is marrying Yuna as part of a ploy to get her to become attached to him, as he knows [[spoiler:that only ThePowerOfLove can kill [[CosmicHorror Sin]], and thus, once he gets Yuna to love him, he will become her [[SummonMagic Final Aeon]] and become Sin, which will kill Yuna in the process]]. So, in short, ''both'' of them are planning to off the other.

* Humperdinck plans this in ''{{The Princess Bride}}'' to give him an excuse to invade the neighboring country.

----
<<|MarriageTropes|>>

* Played with in an issue of ''BatmanAdventures'' where the Joker starts reciprocating Harley Quinn's affections, and even proposes to her -- just after she receives a letter informing her she's inherited a fortune. The twist is that [[spoiler:the letter is a fake, which Harley sent herself; she's GenreSavvy enough to realise it will cause the Joker to marry and murder her, but mad enough to believe that if she reveals the truth once they're married, he'll have no reason to murder her and they'll live happily ever after]].