Homicidal poisoning in the United States: an analysis of the Uniform Crime Reports from 1980 through 1989.

We performed analyses of data on 292 homicides by poisoning in the United States. The data from the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) 1980 through 1989, involved cases of one poisoned victim and one poisoning offender. Demographic factors analyzed for each victim and offender include age, gender, race, relationship of victim to offender, major category of poison, month, year, geographic location, and crime classification. The goal of this study is to identify homicidal poisoner demographics that could assist forensic scientists and law enforcement personnel in their criminal investigations and to serve as the foundation for a more formal investigative analysis of this kind of subtle killer.