Are Good-Looking People More Likely to Get Away With Murder?

the notorious serial killer who murdered more than 30 young women, as an example of a criminal who
used his good looks to lure his victims—and, at least to a point, charm jurors. "

His mug shot went viral after it was posted on the Stockton (Calif.) Police Department’s Facebook page
earlier this month along with information about a local crime-stopping program. The photo now boasts
more than 97,000 likes and 35,000 comments—many of them peppered with heart emoticons and
declarations of love.

Research suggests that Meeks's unusual situation can be explained by the "halo effect" of attractiveness
—our tendency to unconsciously assign to attractive people favorable traits such as talent, kindness,
honesty and intelligence. The effect helps to explain why we are attracted to Brad Pitt, as well as pretty,
shiny inanimate objects. It's an inherent superficiality that we aren't usually consciously aware that we're
guilty of.

Studies have found that unattractive defendants are more likely to be found guilty by juries than those
who are good-looking

Attractive children, for example, get punished less than other kids.
It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that “ugly people are more often tempted—or perhaps pushed—
into a life of crime than people who are physically attractive.”

Being very attractive reduces a young adult's propensity for criminal activity and being unattractive
increases it.