# Murder most likely by what profession **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608 "2007-11-24T15:37:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/1 "2007-11-24T15:37:40Z")
After hearing about Petersen being a law officer, I got to thinking that it seems like an awful lot of people involved in law enforcement murder people. I tried to Google the topic and find out which profession has the highest incidence of committing murder. Is there a study or a website with this information? Or does anyone know which profession has this title? I am looking for real professions not things like hit men, and professional terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/2 "2007-11-24T16:13:34Z")
I’m looking forward to the answer to this one, too, and encourage bumping until someone comes along with the data. This reminds me of an old episode of the Alfred Hitchcock show, where two actuarians determine from their data who is most likely to be murdered and when. So on a blazing hot day they go to Hell’s Kitchen to warn a longshoreman’s wife that she’s in danger. She blows them off, and as they leave her apartment building, the last shot of is a close-up on the crate hook in her husband’s back pocket as he stumbles past them in a drunken rage. Which leads me to think it will be a low-paying, high-stress occupation, but with some other cultural factor thrown into the mix that somehow prevents abandonment instead of violence. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/3 "2007-11-24T16:20:51Z")
[QUOTE=TV time] After hearing about Petersen being a law officer, I got to thinking that it seems like an awful lot of people involved in law enforcement murder people. I tried to Google the topic and find out which profession has the highest incidence of committing murder. Is there a study or a website with this information? Or does anyone know which profession has this title? I am looking for real professions not things like hit men, and professional terrorists. [/QUOTE] Do US politicians qualify as professionals? ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/4 "2007-11-24T17:41:43Z")
Soldiers? It all depends on your definition of “murder.” ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/5 "2007-11-24T17:49:10Z")
[QUOTE=Slithy Tove] This reminds me of an old episode of the Alfred Hitchcock show, where two actuarians determine from their data who is most likely to be murdered and when. So on a blazing hot day they go to Hell’s Kitchen to warn a longshoreman’s wife that she’s in danger. She blows them off, and as they leave her apartment building, the last shot of is a close-up on the crate hook in her husband’s back pocket as he stumbles past them in a drunken rage. [/QUOTE] I just watched that episode last week. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/6 "2007-11-24T18:06:44Z")
Don’t have time to really delve deep here, but this is one cite. > **[Murder, an Analysis of Its Forms, Conditions, and Causes](https://books.google.com/books?id=71QXOxJ5mcUC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=murderers%2Boccupation%2Bstudy&source=web&ots=8MEh34TnrH&sig=oQMddBwoWxRku4SJRy3LfFzXlqI#PPA39,M1)** > > A unique study providing evidence that murder is predictable and the exceptionally high murder rate in the United States is reduceable. Part I examines 50 case histories and an analysis of 912 homicides from an original study made in Erie County... Makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/7 "2007-11-24T19:41:19Z")
Do you mean most likely to commit murder while on the job? That’s a pretty important distinction. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/8 "2007-11-24T20:19:53Z")
Postal workers? We did get the term “going postal” from the number of postal workers that shot up their work places. It’s now used to describe anyone that goes off the deep end. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/9 "2007-11-24T20:35:20Z")
[QUOTE=Slithy Tove] This reminds me of an old episode of the Alfred Hitchcock show, where two actuarians determine from their data who is most likely to be murdered and when. So on a blazing hot day they go to Hell’s Kitchen to warn a longshoreman’s wife that she’s in danger. She blows them off, and as they leave her apartment building, the last shot of is a close-up on the crate hook in her husband’s back pocket as he stumbles past them in a drunken rage. [/QUOTE] I know a short-story version of that tale (though whether the episode was adapted from it, or it was adapted from the episode is unclear) exists because I read it in one of Hitchcock’s anthologies. The two actuaries try to warn the mean lady that her behaviour combined with the critical 92[sup]o[/sup] weather (any hotter and people are too lethargic to kill, any cooler and they’re more relaxed) and she so infuriates one of them that _he_ attacks her, leading to their hasty retreat. At the moment, the only anthology I can find is _Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories NOT for the Nervous_ and it’s not there. My other books are scattered around and I’ll see if it turns up. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/10 "2007-11-24T20:44:42Z")
Continuing the hijack, I remember that as an episode of the Ray Bradbury tv series, not Alfred Hitchcock. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/11 "2007-11-24T20:44:55Z")
How about the unemployed? ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/12 "2007-11-24T20:50:11Z")
Ha. Of course law enforcement people would do it. They know how to get away with it 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SpectBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@SpectBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpectBrain)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/13 "2007-11-24T21:30:09Z")
Doctors? [Shipman killed 215 patients](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2135604.stm) ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/14 "2007-11-24T21:31:02Z")
[QUOTE=fisha] Don’t have time to really delve deep here, but this is one cite. > **[Murder, an Analysis of Its Forms, Conditions, and Causes](https://books.google.com/books?id=71QXOxJ5mcUC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=murderers+occupation+study&source=web&ots=8MEh34TnrH&sig=oQMddBwoWxRku4SJRy3LfFzXlqI&hl=en)** > > A unique study providing evidence that murder is predictable and the exceptionally high murder rate in the United States is reduceable. Part I examines 50 case histories and an analysis of 912 homicides from an original study made in Erie County... Makes sense. [/QUOTE] I was reading the Who Kills Whom part, but it seems that the pertinent pages were unavailable. Did it work for you? What did it have to say about occupations? (I found it interesting that 11PM to midnight was the “most dangerous hour,” followed by 2AM to 3AM.) ---
**Author:** ![Public\_Animal\_No.9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Public\_Animal\_No.9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Public_Animal_No.9)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/15 "2007-11-24T22:28:20Z")
My first thought was “hitman” but that seems to be a relatively low-volume market, so to speak. The thought of doctor, or a bit more broadly, “health care professional” definitely seems to be in the running: [Serial killers `attracted to medical profession’](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010510/ai_n14395132) (plus you get to win a prize for being the 999,999th visitor!). In general, I would expect that professions in which violence is a normal part of the atmosphere to be right up there - police, soldiers, etc. Not only are there plenty of weapons, they can also be high stress and are typically not high-paying. Seems like a pretty potent mixture. ---
**Author:** ![GythaOgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GythaOgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GythaOgg)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/16 "2007-11-24T22:34:15Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] I know a short-story version of that tale (though whether the episode was adapted from it, or it was adapted from the episode is unclear) exists because I read it in one of Hitchcock’s anthologies. The two actuaries try to warn the mean lady that her behaviour combined with the critical 92[sup]o[/sup] weather (any hotter and people are too lethargic to kill, any cooler and they’re more relaxed) and she so infuriates one of them that _he_ attacks her, leading to their hasty retreat. At the moment, the only anthology I can find is _Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories NOT for the Nervous_ and it’s not there. My other books are scattered around and I’ll see if it turns up. [/QUOTE] It’s a Ray Bradbury story - the collection I have it in is ‘The October Country’. The title is ‘Touched With Fire’. I’ve never seen the Hitchcock adaptation, but the story is chilling. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2007, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/17 "2007-11-24T23:39:30Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] I was reading the Who Kills Whom part, but it seems that the pertinent pages were unavailable. Did it work for you? What did it have to say about occupations? (I found it interesting that 11PM to midnight was the “most dangerous hour,” followed by 2AM to 3AM.) [/QUOTE] Sorry about my short post. I though this was interesting, but I was running out the door. On page 39, it lists the top professions-Laborer, service worker (waiter, clerk, etc) and operative (sounds like factory worker.) 13% are unemployed. This cite seems older, possibly British, but I cannot find the date of publication–wait, looked it up, 1990. Looks like a pretty small sample as well. Later tonight I’ll look and see if I can find anything from the DOC. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/18 "2007-11-25T00:44:39Z")
Are we talking most murders “per capita,” or just raw numbers? In other words, are we correcting for for the fact that a lot more people are doctors than taxidermists? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/19 "2007-11-25T00:56:33Z")
[QUOTE=TV time] I got to thinking that it seems like an awful lot of people involved in law enforcement murder people. [/QUOTE] Really? Doesn’t seem to be the case in my experience. I know a lot of cops. Not one is a muderer. At least not yet. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608/20 "2007-11-25T04:57:06Z")
Public exicutioners perhaps? Abortionist? The POTUS? Snipers? They all take human lives, but calling it murder is a bit of a strecth in most cases. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/murder-most-likely-by-what-profession/427608.md?page=2)