Well in the US the murder rate is about 1 in 20,000 people*, per year, so how many people do you estimate identify enough as a furry that it might get dug up by a newspaper or lawyer? If the rate for furries was anywhere near that of the general US population, it means over the next 5 years you would expect a person who went to Anthrocon in 2010 to be murdered or victim of an attempted murder. Of course the rate may be rather different for furries due to the furry population having different biases from the general population, but at the same time this story isn't talking about someone who has been murdered (or even a murder), but only one who was a witness in a murder trial. So the number of people who can be involved in a murder one way or another is higher. With the size of the fandom at this point, it doesn't take much odds for something to be likely to happen at least once, and then be quickly highlighted by media.
And if in the past fandom has been relatively isolated from such things, and had lower incidence of such things than the general population, then that means increasing incidence with growth doesn't necessarily mean more psychos, but could happen just from more "normal" people, brining the rate more in line with that of the general population (or even the previous members changing in demographics as they age).
(* Cited rate may include both attempted and actual murders.)
Well in the US the murder rate is about 1 in 20,000 people*, per year, so how many people do you estimate identify enough as a furry that it might get dug up by a newspaper or lawyer? If the rate for furries was anywhere near that of the general US population, it means over the next 5 years you would expect a person who went to Anthrocon in 2010 to be murdered or victim of an attempted murder. Of course the rate may be rather different for furries due to the furry population having different biases from the general population, but at the same time this story isn't talking about someone who has been murdered (or even a murder), but only one who was a witness in a murder trial. So the number of people who can be involved in a murder one way or another is higher. With the size of the fandom at this point, it doesn't take much odds for something to be likely to happen at least once, and then be quickly highlighted by media.
And if in the past fandom has been relatively isolated from such things, and had lower incidence of such things than the general population, then that means increasing incidence with growth doesn't necessarily mean more psychos, but could happen just from more "normal" people, brining the rate more in line with that of the general population (or even the previous members changing in demographics as they age).
(* Cited rate may include both attempted and actual murders.)