An Examination of Homicide Clearance in Canada

Abstract

While there is fear over homicide, crime statistics reveal that homicides are generally on the decline in Canada and have one of the highest clearance rates among other types of crimes (Moreau, 2018). However, recent years also show that unsolved homicide rates are increasing, with no clear explanation behind the recent trends. Studies examining the factors affecting homicide clearance reveal contradictory findings, particularly the role that victim’s characteristics play in homicide clearance. This thesis explores how victim, accused, and situational/incident characteristics affect clearance outcome and the speed in which homicide cases are cleared through using 1991-2015 data from the Homicide Survey. My results indicate that many factors influence homicide clearance, and that victim, accused, and situational/incident characteristics must be considered when examining homicide clearance.