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Expanded Homicide Data Figure

In this figure, bar graphs and a pie chart visually represent the relationships of murder victims to their offenders. The statistics are based on the supplemental homicide data that law enforcement agencies submitted to the FBI for 14,180 murder victims who were slain in 2008. Pie chart: Of the homicides that occurred in 2008 for which supplemental homicide data were received, the relationships of the murder victims to their offenders were as follows: 1,841 victims (13.0 percent) were slain by family members, 1,742 (12.3 percent) were murdered by strangers, and 4,329 victims (30.5 percent) were slain by “other known” offenders. The offenders were not known for 6,268 murder victims (44.2 percent). Bar graphs: The first bar graph provides a breakdown of the 1,841 familial relationships of victims to offenders based on supplemental homicide data from 2008: 119 husbands were killed by their wives, 577 wives were slain by their husbands, 117 mothers were murdered by their children, 120 fathers were killed by their children, 270 sons were slain by their parents, 211 daughters were murdered by their parents, 98 brothers were killed by their siblings, 15 sisters were slain by their siblings, and 314 victims were murdered by family members related to them in ways other than those mentioned above. A second bar graph depicts the 4,329 “other known” (that is, nonfamilial) relationships of victims to offenders based on supplemental homicide data from 2008: 3,068 victims were killed by acquaintances, 504 were slain by friends, 145 boyfriends were murdered by their girlfriends, 492 girlfriends were killed by their boyfriends, 106 victims were slain by their neighbors, 5 employees were murdered by their employers, and 9 employers were killed by their employees.

Crime in the United States, 2008
U.S. Department of Justice — Federal Bureau of Investigation
September 2009