Although criminal activity has traditionally been linked to poverty, a growing percentage of those entering the criminal justice system as perpetrators are female or hail from middle and upper class households.

     This isn't to say female criminals or crime originating from the so-called "right" side of the economic tracks are anomalies — they aren't — but it's becoming more and more commonplace for the perpetrator to be what would have once been considered "atypical."

     History tells us that many cases that have snagged the public eye involved what were seen as unlikely suspects. Consider, for example, the famous case involving two wealthy teens in 1924 Chicago. When Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb kidnapped and killed a 14-year-old boy simply for the thrill of the kill, the country was simultaneously shocked and transfixed by the senseless crime.

     Over subsequent decades, crimes committed by kids — especially those associated with ordinary or upper class upbringings — caught and held the news because they were unusual. And young girls involved in serious criminal activity provided much more titillating media fodder than boys. History records tons of interest in cases like the ones below — all of which received serious attention from both the media and the public:

• Convicted and imprisoned mass murderer Charles Manson's youthful followers slithered onto the world stage and the view of teenagers as perpetrators shifted. Many of Manson's followers came from households that — while dysfunctional in some ways — were mostly solidly middle-class. And, of course, at the core of his following were a group of innocent-looking young girls.
• In 1983, California teens Shirley Wolf and Cindy Collier appeared remorseless and almost bored when convicted of beating and stabbing to death an elderly woman for their own entertainment.
• Sandy Shaw, only 15 years old, and her friends stunned the public when they shot a man to death after Shaw lured him to a deserted place with the express intention of robbing and killing him.
• Jessica Holtmeyer, a Pennsylvania teen, conspired with others to trap, hang and subsequently beat to death a 15-year-old girl whose only crime was wanting to be Holtmeyer's friend. Even her juvenile accomplices were stunned by Holtmeyer's callousness.