Are Planned Murders Common?

I was trying to find some statistics, I just found this

( US murder statistics for 2017, broken down by circumstance )

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-10.xls

The total murders is 15,129.

Of these, Felony type total is 2,236 ( these are murders committed while carrying out some other crime, most common sub-category is robbery ).

Unknown is 6,077. “Suspected felony” is 153.

Of the rest ( 6,663 ) the most common subcategory is “Other Arguments” ( 3,224 ), then “Other not-specified” (2,008). There are various specific “Argument” categories, e.g. “Argument over money or property” ( 199 ), “Brawl due to influence of narcotics” ( 129 ), “Brawl due to influence of alcohol” ( 118 ).

So the common circumstances are an argument or murder while committing some other crime ( felony murder ).

I believe these figures suggest that most murders are not planned.

Original Poll which caused me to look for data here

Leave a comment