The Escalation of Stalking Into Homicide: A Thematic Analysis of Offender Behaviors, Policing Failures, and the Requirement for a Stalker's Register and Risk Assessment Tool.

With stalking and an escalation of such concerning behaviors being highly present in cases of homicide, the current study uses thematic analysis to locate common and uncommon victim demographics, behavioral risk factors, and issues in policing. Gathered from public media sources, 32 cases of stalking that resulted in murder or attempted murder of the victim were examined regardless of jurisdiction or background factors. Females, aged 25 years and below, were most at risk of stalking-homicide conducted by a male perpetrator with whom they held a previous intimate relationship. Common themes within the demographics and behavioral risk factors were developed into a proposed risk factor checklist, while the issues in policing highlighted space for development in the investigation of stalking victims and stalking-homicide cases.