Why is the Crystal, Minnesota area so murdery, by episodes?

Crystal sits in the middle of a ring of towns. The hotspot takes in seven, all between twelve and twenty-three miles of the centre: Corcoran, Lino Lakes, Andover, Ham Lake, Shakopee, Woodbury and Crystal itself, where one case sits at zero miles. Seven episodes, twelve murders, rank eight overall and first in Minnesota.

Ham Lake in 1978, Corcoran in 1980, Woodbury in 1989, Crystal in 1993, Lino Lakes in 2000, Andover in 2008, Shakopee in 2021. Five episodes carry a single victim each, Ham Lake adds two, and one Lino Lakes episode adds five.

Crystal was settled in a hurry. A first settler on 26 March, another the next day, a third before that winter was out. The town is named for the lake it surrounds, and counted 23,143 people in 2023.