When a person is found with hands tied behind his back and a bullet wound in the back of the head, using the term "alleged victim" does not apply. There is no doubt that the dead person is a victim. Nonetheless, we often hear news reports, especially on TV, referring to an "alleged victim." In legal-speak, to allege means to "assert without proof," and this is appropriate when used about a suspect. Example: An "alleged killer." But to say "alleged suspect" is going too far. Either the person is a suspect or not. Just as a dead person bound hand and foot with gunshot wounds in the head is either a victim or not. It's highly unlikely that the "alleged victim" was a suicide.
Extensive use of the term "alleged" does not necessarily get a journalist off the hook of responsibility. Defense lawyers are especially fond of the term because it supposedly takes some of the alleged sting off the alleged offense of the alleged murder as allegedly perpetrated by the alleged suspect.
The term is rooted in the Latin meaning "to send a message," and has come to mean an accusation. We do not refer to an "accused victim" -- that's inherently contradictory, an oxymoron.
The narrower definition, "to assert without proof" is lawyerspeak for "someone, probably the police or the victim, is lying; my client is innocent."
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