because they’re stupider than dirt, that’s how. I’ve got a good cop buddy who said it was very fortunate that the average criminal was so stupid, because the cops would be in real trouble otherwise. Just watch a few episodes of “48 Hours” and you’ll see just how stupid these murderous fools are. It’s also unbelievably hilarious to see just how easily these idiots are tricked into confessing after they are caught (usually because the crime they committed was caught on some stray security camera).
I haven't watched "48 Hours" (if you mean the CBS show), but "The First 48" on A&E matches your description (as well?) and is one of my favorite shows.
(The title refers to the first 48 hours of a murder investigation, which are, we are told, the most critical hours. There's a recurring clock in the corner, with ticking sound effects when it appears. The show doesn't limit its coverage to just those first 48 hours if the investigation continues beyond that time--and many investigations do--but when the clock reaches that point, there's a quick review of what's already happened.)
One of my "favorites" concerned a murder which was apparently intended to keep a witness from testifying about a lesser crime. If someone hadn't actually been killed (or even injured) as a result, the multiple stupidities involved in the crime would've been amusing--by the end, when I realized just how much was stupid, I could just shake my head. Even the original investigation into the lesser crime was inadvertently helped along in the aftermath; even in this one respect alone, the murder backfired.
I haven't watched "48 Hours" (if you mean the CBS show), but "The First 48" on A&E matches your description (as well?) and is one of my favorite shows.
Sometimes I worry about an analog to the "CSI effect"--a number of things go by that name, but here I mean an inadvertent way of teaching aspiring criminals how to conceal their crimes (in the case of CSI, primarily forensically). Occasionally suspects who appear on "The First 48" (as the camera follows them after their arrests) shout out something about having watched it.
Then again, I suspect that the number of stupid murderers will be nice and steady. It also doesn't hurt that many murders on the show appear to be drug-related.