Criminal Homicide: Murder and Its Investigation

Serial murder isn't the most serious issue in law enforcement today. It's the fight that erupts in a bar, the gratuitous murder committed during a quick-stop grocery robbery, the drive-by shooting that is of the greatest concern because murder like this makes up by far the greatest number of homicides every year.

This work details how most stranger killers commit their crimes and the factors that lead to their arrest. It draws upon fifty years of investigative and research experience of the authors, on popular and academic literature on murder, and most unique, comprehensive individual case-level data from the Homicide Investigation and Tracking System on every solved and unsolved murder committed since 1980 in the states of Washington and Oregon.

Written by investigative experts, one a seasoned homicide investigator, the other an experienced criminologist, the book breaks new ground in the study of murder and its investigation and shares new, provocative findings. It includes actual murder cases in each chapter to capture real life experiences associated with different aspects of stranger murder.