Public cases2090People recorded10843Victims3120Suspects2317Offenders444Married cases1021
Reported / Alleged Motives
Possible goals attributed in public sources—not findings of fact.
Reported jealousy
1108
Reported retaliation or revenge
693
Reported financial or material gain
420
Reported relationship-elimination intent
974
Reported fear of exposure or reputation harm
324
Recorded Behavioral Patterns & Red Flags
Documented tactics, behaviors, or warning signs in the public record.
Coercive control dynamics
997
Stalking & unwanted pursuit
262
Economic abuse & financial coercion
36
Extortion & reputation blackmail will appear once it is separately source-coded.
Contextual & Contributing Factors
Reported circumstances or background conditions; they are not presented as motives.
Custody or parental rights dispute
202
Reported suspicion of infidelity
151
Family, honor, or social-pressure context
412
Interfaith/intercaste relationship context
15
Documented financial strain or debt
649
Reported mental health / psychological stressor
251
Reported substance use or alcohol involvement
197
Pregnancy or reproductive context will appear once it is separately source-coded.
786 matching cases retain the legacy broad label “Control/domination.” It is not automatically redistributed into narrower motive or behavior categories without source-supported review.
People
Gender by Case Role
MaleFemaleTransgenderUnknown
Victims3120 total
Male
1069
Female
2038
Transgender
0
Suspects2317 total
Male
1760
Female
549
Transgender
0
Unknown
8
Offenders444 total
Male
328
Female
116
Transgender
0
Unknown
0
4962 people have another or unassigned case role.
Dataset coverage
Recorded Cases by Incident Year
2090total public cases
This is RelationWatch dataset coverage by incident year, not annual prevalence. Earlier years are incomplete because records are being added from publicly available open sources.
Cases
Relationship Status
1911recorded status
Married1021
53.4%
Dating252
13.2%
Ex-partners140
7.3%
Live-in relationship132
6.9%
Separated128
6.7%
Divorced78
4.1%
Extramarital relationship61
3.2%
Engaged51
2.7%
Love triangle12
0.6%
Ex-husband7
0.4%
One-sided love7
0.4%
Secret Marriage6
0.3%
Colleague5
0.3%
Rejected proposal5
0.3%
Bachelor3
0.2%
Ex-wife3
0.2%
Married1021
Dating, engaged or live-in/cohabiting435
Relationship status was not established in available public sources for 179 public cases. These records are excluded from this chart’s categories and percentages.
Financial motive or factor681Revenge motive or factor693Inheritance/property motive or factor105
Combined structured factors and motives
Top Reasons Associated with Relationship Failure
Jealousy
1108
Divorce / Separation
984
Control/domination
786
Infidelity / extramarital relationship
737
Revenge
693
Domestic abuse or violence reported
661
Financial stress or disputes
619
Eliminate spouse
455
Money / Financial Gain
387
Family pressure
378
One public case may appear under multiple labels. These are recorded associations in the selected RelationWatch cases, not proven causes or population prevalence.
Separate recorded categories
Relationship Elimination Motives
Eliminate spouse
455
Eliminate romantic partner
345
Eliminate romantic rival
192
Spouse, unmarried romantic partner, and romantic rival are counted separately. These rows remain visible even when a category falls outside the overall Top 10.
All cases
Top Recorded Motives
Jealousy
1108
Control/domination
786
Revenge
693
Eliminate spouse
455
Money / Financial Gain
384
Eliminate romantic partner
345
Fear of exposure
292
Avoid divorce settlement
217
All cases
Most Common Contributing Factors
Divorce / Separation
984
Domestic abuse or violence reported
661
Cheating / Infidelity
646
Financial stress or disputes
619
Family pressure
378
Mental instability
251
Drugs / Alchohol Use
197
Custody Dispute
193
A case may include multiple contributing factors. Reported factors describe the available case information and do not prove causation or population prevalence.
Relationship violence
Motives Recorded in Relationship Violence
Jealousy
1108
Control/domination
786
Revenge
693
Eliminate spouse
455
Money / Financial Gain
384
Eliminate romantic partner
345
Fear of exposure
292
Avoid divorce settlement
217
All public cases
General Warning Signs
Escalation Pattern / Violence
1576
Threats
1352
Divorce Pending / Recent Separation
1134
Manipulative behavior
686
Deception after incident
588
Firearm Access / Concerning Weapon Behavior
468
Suspects identified
465
Secret affair
449
These are the warning signs most often recorded in the selected public cases. One case may contain multiple signs, and their presence does not by itself establish that violence will occur.
Extramarital cases
Common Recorded Red Flags
Escalation Pattern / Violence
555
Threats
513
Divorce Pending / Recent Separation
460
Secret affair
380
Manipulative behavior
336
Deception after incident
292
Suspects identified
175
False accusations of infidelity
167
Communication patterns
Secretive Communication Signals
380distinct cases
Secretive communication patterns
239
Secret phone communication
121
Hidden calls/messages found
75
Private or hidden meetings
49
Deleted calls/messages
21
Excessive phone usage
17
Hiding phone
8
Changed contact names
6
These signals were recorded in available case information. Their presence does not establish that they caused an incident. One case may contain multiple communication signals.
Recorded victims
Victims by Relationship Status
Married
1573
Dating
323
Ex-partners
209
Live-in relationship
193
Separated
174
Divorced
120
Engaged
92
Extramarital relationship
78
Counts reflect published case records only. “Unknown” includes information that was not reported or has not yet been classified. Suspects and offenders are shown separately and should not be interpreted as equivalent legal findings.