Profiling homicide cases based on matched victim-offender demographic characteristics

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop an evidence-based set of inductive profiles based on matched victim-offender characteristics of homicide cases. To develop these homicide profiles, we used national data from the FBI's supplementary homicide reports that were reported by law enforcement agencies for a period of 42 years, from 1976 to 2017 in the United States. The findings that emerged from the study show that female offenders tend to kill victims of the opposite gender; whereas male offenders kill more victims within their own gender. The probability of becoming a victim of homicide increases for white people and decreases for black people as the offender's age increases. Overall, offenders tend to kill victims about their own age, and as offenders get older, they are more likely to kill female victims than male victims.