• Drinking becomes a partner in crime
• Police find drunkenness fans flames of domestic violence
• When parent drinks, children can suffer nightmarish neglect

In 50 percent to 70 percent of the homicide cases Maine prosecutors see each year, either the suspect or the victim - or both - had been drinking. The following are the closed adult homicide cases from 1991-97 in which alcohol was a factor and which the state Attorney General's Office has prosecuted:

1991

• A 40-year-old man died after being beaten with a baseball bat in Presque Isle on Jan. 20. His blood-alcohol level was 0.26 percent.

• A 25-year-old man was beaten, cut and strangled in Portland on Feb. 28. His blood-alcohol level was 0.19 percent.

• A 33-year-old man was beaten and died in a fall in Portland on March 20. His blood-alcohol level was 0.26 percent.

• A 21-year-old man was fatally stabbed in the chest and back in Princeton in Washington County on May 12. His blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent.

• A 49-year-old man suffered a fatal beating to the head and neck in Elliotsville in Piscataquis County on July 19. His blood-alcohol level was 0.10 percent.

• A 36-year-old man died after he was stabbed in the chest in Columbia in Washington County on Aug. 5. His blood-alcohol level was 0.27 percent.

• A 47-year-old woman suffered a fatal beating to the face in South Portland on Sept. 11. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent.

• A 31-year-old man died of a gunshot wound to the forehead in Camden on Dec. 24. His blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent.

1992

• A 62-year-old woman died after being shot in the temple in Presque Isle on Feb. 13. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.08 percent.

• A 31-year-old woman died from being shot in the temple in Eastbrook in Hancock County on March 8. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.20 percent.

• A 40-year-old woman died after being beaten in the face in Portland on April 5. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.26 percent.

• A 29-year-old man died of stab wounds in the chest in Guilford in Piscataquis County on May 1. His blood-alcohol level was 0.15 percent.

• A 51-year-old woman died after being shot in the stomach, head, chest and neck in Dennistown Plantation in Somerset County on May 16. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.24 percent.

• A 22-year-old woman was fatally shot in the cheek in Lincolnville on June 7 in Waldo County. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.10 percent.

• A 39-year-old woman was suffocated in Portland on June 12. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.43 percent.

• A 26-year-old man bled to death after being thrown through a plate glass window outside a Portland bar on June 18. His blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent.

• A 30-year-old man was fatally shot in the head and chest in Machiasport in Washington County on July 22. His blood-alcohol level was 0.18 percent.

• A 28-year-old man died after being shot in the stomach and chest in Gilead in Oxford County on Oct. 9. His blood-alcohol level was 0.19 percent.

• A 34-year-old man was fatally shot in the head and chest in Randolph in Kennebec County on Nov. 3. His blood-alcohol level was 0.15 percent.

• A 42-year-old man was punched once in a bar fight and died after falling and hitting his head, in Portland on Nov. 6. His blood-alcohol level was 0.209 percent.

• A 32-year-old man died of internal bleeding after he was punched in the ribs in Franklin in Hancock County on Dec. 5. His blood-alcohol level was 0.16 percent.

1993

• A 39-year-old man died after being shot in the head in Augusta on Jan. 1. His blood-alcohol level was 0.25 percent.

• A 53-year-old man died after being shot in the head and chest in Hodgdon in Aroostook County on July 24. His blood-alcohol level was 0.14 percent.

• A 23-year-old man died of gunshot wounds to the face, neck and abdomen in Portland on Aug. 21. His blood-alcohol level was 0.16 percent.

• A 27-year-old man died of gunshot wounds to the stomach and chest in East Baldwin in Oxford County on Sept. 5. His blood-alcohol level was 0.19 percent.

1994

• A 44-year-old man died of gunshot wounds in the stomach and head in Bangor on Jan. 2. His blood-alcohol level was 0.35 percent.

• A 59-year-old man was strangled in Portland on April 22. His blood-alcohol level was 0.10 percent.

• A 43-year-old man died of a gunshot wound to the chest in North Berwick on June 8. His blood-alcohol level was 0.21 percent.

• A 41-year-old man died after being stabbed and cut in the neck and trunk in Auburn on Aug. 8. His blood-alcohol level was 0.21 percent.

• A 34-year-old woman died of stab wounds to the chest and arms in Belfast on Aug. 20. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.25 percent.

• A 27-year-old man died after suffering stab wounds to the chest and neck in Cumberland on Sept. 26. His blood-alcohol level was 0.180 percent.

• A 47-year-old man died after being shot in the head and abdomen in Wellington in Piscataquis County on Nov. 27. His blood-alcohol level was 0.16 percent.

• A 28-year-old man died after being beaten in the head in Lincoln on Dec. 1. His blood-alcohol level was 0.24 percent.

• A 27-year-old man died after he was stabbed in the back in Waterville on Dec. 14. His blood-alcohol level was 0.23 percent.

• A 31-year-old woman was strangled in Rumford on Dec. 17. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.12 percent.

1995

• A 32-year-old woman died after she was shot in the head and ear in Scarborough on July 8. Her blood-alcohol level was 0.35 percent.

• A 21-year-old man died after he was beaten in the head with a wooden baluster in Portland on Oct. 20. His blood-alcohol level was 0.262 percent.

1996

• A 31-year-old man died of gunshot wounds to the head and trunk in Durham on Dec. 17. His blood-alcohol level was 0.13 percent.

1997

• A 20-year-old man died after he was shot in the head, chest and stomach in Mexico in Oxford County on Jan. 11. His blood-alcohol level was 0.15 percent.

• A 21-year-old man died when he was kicked in the throat in Detroit in Somerset County on May 12. His blood-alcohol level was 0.22 percent.

• A 27-year-old man died when he was shot in the head and chest in Bangor on Aug. 3. His blood-alcohol level was 0.41 percent.