You seem to be blinded by the conclusion you've already reached and are really twisting logic to convince yourself and the rest of us that it makes sense. That conclusion, from what I understand, being that something about Farmville causes people to murder.
Starting with incorrect data makes it impossible to arrive at meaningful results. You are incorrect about the number of murders in Farmville in 2009. There were 4, not 6. That makes your original calculations about the per capita rate way off statistically speaking.
The figure you used for Farmville's population may be correct in your first calculation, but in response to peace_gurl's comment, you recalculated to come up with a figure that may accurately reflect Prince Edward County's per capita murder rate, but which still doesn't speak to the question of what Farmville's rate is.
Washington D.C., a small city with a river at it's edge, is at least as inseparable from its surrounding areas on both sides of that river as you argue Farmville is from Prince Edward County and parts of Cumberland County. Its situation within the state of Maryland but separate from it is not entirely analogous to that of Farmville's relationship to Prince Edward county, but it's very close.
D.C. is anything but homogeneous. It has parts where you would be hard pressed to get mugged at 4 in the A.M. and plenty of places I wouldn't go on foot in broad daylight. All of present day D.C. borders either the river or Maryland. Most of the dangerous parts of the city are near the Maryland border and spill over it. For the most part, you wouldn't be able to tell if you crossed the line between Maryland and the District and criminals certainly aren't going to stop at an imaginary line.
Statistical data about crime though would be recorded and spoken of as though the (formerly complete) square that is called Washington D.C. existed in isolation. Events in Maryland would not affect the statistics re: per capita anything in D.C. and vice versa. The same holds true for Arlington, although it is right across the bridge. I find it puzzling that you are willing to isolate D.C. from its surroundings for statistical purposes, but not Farmville. Arlington was even once a part of the district, just as the area where Farmville is today may have once been a part of a plantation named Bizarre
Certain areas and demographics in Washington suffer a much much higher rate of murder per capita than Farmville, and some consequently enjoy a relatively low rate which is far below that which you've calculated for Farmville. For someone to conclude, as you suggest that peace_gurl might, that a trip to D.C. should be avoided because one risks murder would be foolish. At least if statistical data is the sole basis for that conclusion. The numbers reveal no actual truth about the situation in the city because there is no situation. Rather, there are numerous situations, some benign and some not so.
What you've ended up with is a textbook example of how statistics can be misused, innocently I honestly believe in your case, to argue for a conclusion that they simply don't support. It may be possible, but so far you have derived no accurate relevant statistics. You have no set of other places that we can accurately and reasonably compare Farmville to, which I think would be pretty difficult actually. You have demonstrated that difficulty yourself as I've hoped to show, with your reference to Washington D.C..
So far the murders in Prince Edward County including Farmville for 2009 total 6 as far as we know. Two of those people, a man and a woman were shot by the woman's husband as they exited a night club together. One of those people was a young girl very likely killed by a man who one or both of them thought was her boyfriend. He may have killed an additional 3 people as part of the spree that took her life. Sadly, there is nothing unusual here if you look at some highly relevant statistics.
"According to the U.S. Department of Justice, between 1998 and 2002:
Of the almost 3.5 million violent crimes committed against family members, 49% of these were crimes against spouses.
84% of spouse abuse victims were females, and 86% of victims of dating partner abuse at were female.
Males were 83% of spouse murderers and 75% of dating partner murderers
50% of offenders in state prison for spousal abuse had killed their victims. Wives were more likely than husbands to be killed by their spouses: wives were about half of all spouses in the population in 2002, but 81% of all persons killed by their spouse."
http://www.abanet.org/domviol/statistics.html
edited to add from the same source quoted above..........
The couple that was murdered at the nightclub was African American. The number one killer of African-American women ages 15 to 34 is homicide at the hands of a current or former intimate partner.
Africana Voices Against Violence, Tufts University, Statistics, 2002,
www.ase.tufts.edu/womenscenter/peace/africana/newsite/statistics.htm
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Far more relevant than any question about what's in the air in Farmville, or what Californian parents are doing wrong with their children is what can be done to keep women from being hurt or killed by men whom they love, trust, and believe they are safe with.
