I mean, where did you go?  Stop and say good munch. You must be busy    Miss your postage. Just say hello, been busy.... hope all is well friend.

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 10:00 A.M. EST Bureau of Justice Statistics 
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2011                             

Contact: Kara McCarthy (202) 307-1241
HTTP://WWW.BJS.GOV/ After hours: (202) 598-0556

HOMICIDES FALL TO LOWEST RATE IN FOUR DECADES

WASHINGTON – The nation’s homicide rate fell to 4.8 homicides per 100,000 U.S. residents in 2010, its lowest level in four decades, the Bureau of Justice Statistics announced today. Much of the decline was in the nation’s largest cities, those with a population of one million or more, where the homicide rate dropped dramatically from 35.5 homicides per 100,000 residents in 1991 to a low of 11.9 per 100,000 in 2008.

The sharp increase in homicides from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, and much of the subsequent decline, is attributable to gun violence by teens (age 14 to 17) and young adults (age 18 to 24). Despite the recent decline, the number of gun homicides committed by teens and young adults in 2008 remained similar to the counts of the mid-1980s.

Most murders were intraracial. From 1980 through 2008, 84 percent of white homicide victims were murdered by whites and 93 percent of black victims were murdered by blacks. During this same period, blacks were disproportionately represented among homicide victims and offenders. Blacks were six times more likely than whites to be homicide victims and seven times more likely than whites to commit homicide.

The number of homicides known to involve adult or juvenile gang violence has quadrupled since 1980, increasing from about 220 homicides in 1980 to 960 homicides in 2008. From 1980 to 2008, gang violence increased from one percent to six percent of all homicides. During this same period, gun involvement in gang-related homicides increased from 73 percent to 92 percent.

Among the report’s other findings:

From 1980 to 2008, nearly a quarter of the victims (24 percent) of gang-related homicides were juveniles (under age 18). Juveniles were also a fifth (19 percent) of persons killed by family members and a fifth (18 percent) of persons killed during the commission of a sex-related crime.

In 2008, two of every five female murder victims were killed by an intimate. Among female murder victims for whom the victim/offender relationships were known, 45.3 percent were killed by an intimate whereas only 4.9 percent of male homicide victims were killed by an intimate.

Overall, more than two-thirds of victims murdered by a spouse or ex-spouse were killed by a gun. Boyfriends were more likely than any other group of intimates (50 percent) to be killed by a knife and girlfriends were more likely than any other group of intimates (15 percent) to be killed by force involving hands, fists or feet.

Most homicide victims under age 5 were killed by a parent. In 2008, 59% of young child homicide victims were killed by a parent, 10% were killed by some other family member and 30% were murdered by a friend or acquaintance.

From 1980 to 2010, the number of reported law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty dropped by 46 percent, from a reported 104 law enforcement officers killed in 1980 to 56 reported law enforcement deaths in 2010.

Most justifiable homicides by police were the result of attacks on officers, accounting for 64 percent of these homicides in 2008. The most frequent circumstance cited for justifiable homicides committed by citizens was the disruption of a crime in progress (55 percent of justifiable homicides by a citizen in 2008) or when a citizen was attacked (41 percent of justifiable homicides by a citizen in 2008).
Most of these findings are based on the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), which collects yearly supplementary data regarding homicides committed in the United States. From 1980 to 2008, contributing agencies provided supplementary data for 508,568 of the estimated 565,636 murders.

The FBI’s annual report, Crime in the United States, provides additional summary data for 2009 and 2010.

The report, Homicide Trends in the United States, 1980-2008 (NCJ 236018), was written by BJS statisticians Alexia Cooper and Erica L. Smith. Following publication, the report can be found at http://www.bjs.gov.

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/press/htus8008pr.cfm

Killers who go on to kill again under spotlight

Over 30 killers killed again after being freed from prison between 2000/1 and 2010/11, statistics show.

Figures released by the Home Office show 29 people with homicide convictions went on to commit murder and six went on to commit manslaughter.

Of those 29 murderers, 13 previously committed murder and 16 manslaughter.

The government says it does all it can to protect the public from offenders "but sadly risk can never be eliminated entirely".   

One prisoner killed again while still in jail for killing his first victim, the Home Office report said.

The report comes as the number of killings police recorded in England and Wales rose to 636 in the 12 months to March 2011, up from 608 the previous year.

Of those killed, two-thirds were men. A total of 60 were shot - including two by a crossbow - and 232 people were killed by a sharp instrument.

More than three-quarters of women knew the main suspect in the murder, compared with just over half of men.

Elsewhere, police figures released on Thursday show overall crime in England and Wales fell by 4% in the year to September 2011.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the decision to release life sentence prisoners "is solely for the Independent Parole Board".

The spokesman continued: "Life sentence prisoners remain on licence for the rest of their lives and are liable to be recalled to custody if they show evidence of increasing risk of serious harm to the public.

"The most serious sexual and violent offenders are also managed under the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Under MAPPA, the police, probation and prison services are required to work together to assess and manage the higher risk offenders.

"We do everything we can to ensure that the public is protected from offenders but sadly risk can never be eliminated entirely."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16638227

February 23, 2012 2:37 PM

(CBS) WEATHERFORD, Texas - A Texas man who abducted his former neighbor and tortured her for nearly two weeks was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, reports CBS affiliate KHOU.

Jurors found Jeffrey Allan Maxwell, 59, guilty of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of aggravated sexual assault on Tuesday. They deliberated for less than one hour.

Maxwell's victim, 63-year-old Lois Pearson, testified that in March 2011, Maxwell came to her house, sprayed something in her eyes and started dragging her as she grabbed onto a barbed-wire fence. He then shackled her hands and feet and hit her twice in the head. She briefly escaped and ran down the road before he caught up with her and forced her into the back of his SUV at gunpoint, she said.

Maxwell then took Pearson, who had been his neighbor until 2005, into his garage, and whipped and sexually assaulted her while she was suspended naked on a deer-skinning device. Over the next 12 days she said she was continually tortured, chained to a bed and locked in a nearly airtight wooden box.

Maxwell received three life sentences, and then the judge in the case "stacked" two of them, meaning he will not be eligible for parole until he is 119 years old.

Pearson spoke after the trial, telling reporters that she thanked God for saving her.

"He answered my prayers and spared my life," Pearson said. "That man was going to kill me; he had no choice but to kill me, because I could identify him and he didn't want to go to prison."

Pearson said the sentence imposed on Maxwell gives the 63-year-old woman some satisfaction. "I feel very relieved, because that was one of my worries -- that he would come after me and try to kill me if he ever gets out," she said. "It's a miracle that I'm alive."

Pearson also told KHOU that she is trying to forgive her captor.

"Because that is the way that our religious faith teaches that. If I don't forgive him, I will go to hell. My religious faith teaches that, and I certainly don't want to go to hell over not forgiving that man."

Prosecutors presented six witnesses during the punishment phase of Maxwell's trial -- two of whom said Maxwell molested them as little girls.

Defense attorneys said they couldn't find anyone to testify for Jeffrey Maxwell, including the accused man himself.

She is lucky to be alive   This monster would have certainly killed her.    No one stepped up to testify for the defendant, ha, who would have anything good to say, honestly?   

Victim kills teen robber on trail, police say   
Originally Published: 1/26/2012
Jason A Kahl
Reading Eagle

A 65-year-old man shot two teens, one fatally, as they tried to rob him Wednesday morning on a trail near the Schuylkill River, police said.

The Berks County coroner's office did not release the name of the boy who was killed, saying only that he was a 16-year-old from the city. Officials said his mother asked them to give her time to notify relatives before releasing his name.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:17 p.m. by Deputy Coroner Jonn M. Hollenbach. An autopsy is scheduled this afternoon in Reading Hospital.

The other teen, who was shot once, was taken to Reading Hospital. Police did not release his name. Information on his condition could not be obtained.

A third teen, identified only as a 15-year-old boy, was stopped at the scene by police and taken in for questioning. He was later committed to the county youth center in Bern Township on unspecified charges.

Authorities also did not release the name of the man, who was not charged.

Police said the shooting occurred shortly before 11 on the Thun Trail near the Schuylkill River pedestrian bridge between Reading and West Reading.

According to investigators:

The man was riding his bicycle on the trail near the Bertolet Fishing Dock at South First Avenue and Chestnut Street in West Reading.

The teens knocked the man off his bicycle, and two of them assaulted him.

The man pulled out a handgun and shot them both.

Someone flagged down a passer-by in the 200 block of Riverfront Drive near Reading Area Community College.

Within minutes officers from the city, West Reading, Cumru Township, state police and the Berks County sheriff's office were at the scene. They found the dead boy on a sliver of land that is part of Cumru at the end of the pedestrian bridge.

District Attorney John T. Adams responded with detectives from the county's forensic services unit.

After consulting with Adams, police decided to release the man and charge the juvenile.

Cory Smits - I think he fell asleep drunk at a frat party and the boys just made him pay  .

The police also said he reeked of booze and could barely stand -- and had to be pepper sprayed when he began banging his head in the back seat of the police car.   

Hello everyone,

Well where do I start...Thanks for allowing me to become a new member on this site.   My stance is definitely pro DP.  What has made me want to join is the great dialog, comedy, and educational answers that come from all the members here. This has only come from hours of going over case after case and thread after thread on this site from the members here, some of these cases are are truly mind blowing.   

I hope in my own way I can offer contribution to your site and hope to get to know you all.

Note: I just might hoot and holler when a POS gets put down   

Jayson - from Texas