The perfect crime is one that is never detected, making it impossible to catch or prosecute the perpetrator. It can include crimes that cannot be solved due to lack of evidence or other factors. While rare, it is often used as inspiration for crime writers and is seen as a reflection of a criminal’s brilliance. However, most criminals make mistakes that provide evidence for detectives to find them.
The perfect homicide is a crime for which the perpetrator will never be caught, or if caught will not be convicted of the crime. A stricter definition of the term indicates that for a crime to be truly perfect, the crime should never be detected, eliminating any chance of a person ever being caught or tried for a crime. This is not necessarily a particular crime, but can refer to any type of criminal act that defies solution. The perfect crime typically reflects on the criminal and does not serve to indicate poor performance by those investigating the crime.
Often an inspiration to crime writers, the perfect crime is any hypothetical crime that cannot be solved or even noticed. In its most general sense, this is a crime that, once committed, cannot be solved for some reason. There are some real-world examples of the “perfect crime,” including instances where the evidence in one case hinged on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) indicating that the perpetrator was one of a set of identical twins. Since the evidence could not be used to distinguish which twin committed the crime, when both twins claimed their innocence there was little ability to prosecute either of them.
Writers who create crime novels often think of more elaborate or creative types of perfect crimes; such a crime is often used to challenge a lead investigator. This can include a “locked room” homicide, where a person is found dead in a room, often clearly the victim of a homicide, but the room is locked from the inside. Some researchers or investigators apply a stricter definition to the term, and to them only a crime that goes undetected constitutes a perfect crime. While this means that only the criminal would be aware that the crime was committed perfectly, it would be impossible to fix as it would remain unknown.
A perfect crime is typically thought of as indicative of a criminal’s brilliance or machinations. This type of crime does not go unsolved because of mistakes or failures made on behalf of an investigation, but rather despite the work that goes into solving the case. A perfect crime is, in essence, so carefully planned and so carefully committed that there is no evidence to indicate who committed the crime, at least not conclusively. In reality, such crimes tend to be quite rare and most criminals make numerous mistakes while committing a crime which provides detectives with evidence with which to find them.
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