Murder is defined as the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another. Utah's murder rate in 2005 was 2.3 per 100,000, a 21.1% increase compared with 2004. This is a large increase compared with the 2004 rate. It is important to understand that very few murders occur in Utah each year. An increase or decrease of 4 or 5 murders during a single year can yield very large percentage increases year to year. Over the past 30 years, Utah's murder rate has remained relatively constant, with peaks occurring during some years.

Utah's murder rate remains just over one third of the national rate.

Utah's adult arrest rate for murder was 2.5 per 100,000 of those over 18 years of age.  This represents a 2.2% decrease compared with 2004.

During 2004, there were 0.6 juvenile arrests for murder per 100,000 of those aged 10 to 17.  This is a decrease of about 33% between 2004 and 2005.

*Juvenile arrest rates should not be compared to adult arrest rates as they are based upon a much narrower population group.