Why is Barrington, Rhode Island so murdery?

Barrington is the far eastern panhandle of Rhode Island: small, wealthy, and until 2011 the last dry town in the state. The hosts note the rubber plant that burned in the 1940s and was never rebuilt, and the 1938 hurricane that wrecked the shoreline. It sounds like the kind of place where nothing happens, which is presumably why the show keeps looking.

The 22 murders within 25 miles are spread wide rather than stacked. They fall across ten towns, from Barrington itself (three victims, episode 307) out to Foster at 22 miles (four victims, episode 395), and from 1961 to 2008. Most episodes carry one or two victims; only episodes 225, 307 and 395 carry three or four. No single case props up the total. It is a slow accumulation of small towns, with Warren three miles away and East Providence five.

It is worth saying plainly that this counts the show's cases, not crime statistics. James and Jimmie choose the towns, so the map reflects their filing cabinet as much as anything else.