Suspects in the Spotlight

Any fan of Dateline can agree that one of the best parts of the show is delving into the life and details of the suspects. Learning about suspect histories, motivations and outcomes makes you feel like you are part of the investigative team. Further, if you are a Dateline die-hard, you may find yourself spotting patterns in the suspect’s stories that make you feel even better at sleuthing than the detectives themselves.

Still, it can be hard to know if these patterns are real or just in your hyper-vigilant head. Luckily, a new study from Casefleet analyzed hundreds of episodes of Dateline from 2015-2019 and tracked some of the patterns among Dateline suspects. It includes everything from most common topics, to hosting duties, along with victim and suspect profiles. Many of their insights may be on your radar already, but some new commonalities may surprise even you.

First, the survey looked at common outcomes for the Dateline suspects. Over the episodes studied, nearly 90% of suspects were caught, which makes sense because unsolved cases are much easier to cover during the program.

Still, the few cases of unsolved cases where suspects were not apprehended have inspired viewers to take cases into their own hands. Stories of Dateline-fans turned amateur-sleuths have come out of small towns with cold cases across the country.

Next, the survey offered some insights into the patterns of convictions among suspects. About 72% of the suspects were successfully convicted for their crimes. However, as every dateline fan knows, things are often not that easy.

About 6% of the time, suspects weren’t convicted, which can sometimes leave you wanting to yell at the TV when you KNOW they are guilty. Beyond that, over 10% of cases ended well for suspects who were acquitted, had their conviction overturned, or had charges against them dropped. Of course, these special circumstances are sometimes the focus of the series itself, with multiple episodes looking into the justice system and wrongful convictions. True Dateline fans definitely watched the program’s digital series about one man’s wrongful conviction lawsuit.

Finally, the study tackled a favorite pattern that you may love to look for, the significant other statistic. In a whopping 39% of Dateline cases, the suspect was the significant other of the victim, and in another 6% of the cases, the suspect was the victim’s ex-significant other. This comes as no surprise to many Dateline fans who are quick to say “the boyfriend did it”, as soon as Lester Holt introduces the details of the case.

As you can imagine, some of Dateline’s wildest cases are those that involve the throws of passion, love, and jealousy. So, it comes as no surprise that such a high number of Dateline suspects are in some way romantically connected to their victims.

Speaking of victims, even though we are highlighting the suspects of Dateline cases. It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t give a few details about the subjects of the cases. It turns out that the average age of featured victims on Dateline is 35 years old, and the most common ages are 19 and 25. However, the age range is much wider. In the last five years, Dateline featured cases of victims ranging from 5 months to 85 years old. Furthermore, out of the 270 cases that were analyzed by the Casefleet team, 37 remain unsolved.

These statistics are just the beginnings of psychological, criminal, and life patterns shared by suspects, as all Dateline fans know. Still, it’s fun to look back to track the numbers so you can try to crack the case on the episode next week!