Loading AI tools
A prime suspect or key suspect is a person who is considered by the law enforcement agency investigating a crime to be the most likely suspect.[1][2] The idiom "prime suspect" is believed to have originated in 1931.[1] "Key suspect" is seen as early as 1948.[3]
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2014) |
There are various reasons a person may be considered a prime suspect.[citation needed] These include:
- Being positively identified as the only person seen at or near the scene of the crime around the time the crime occurred
- Being linked by some form of forensic evidence, such as DNA
- Being named by witness(es)
- Having the most likely motive to commit the crime
- Racial profiling[4]
- Having knowledge that only one who committed the crime would have
- Having a history of committing crimes with some resemblance to the crime being investigated
- Having confessed to the act
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
