| Murder is both a legal and a moral term that are not always coincident. In the legal sense, murder is the crime of causing the death of another human being without lawful excuse, and with
intent to kill or to cause grievous bodily
harm. While it may be legal to kill, some view instances of this as murder in a moral sense of unjustified killing. For
example, some opponents of the death penalty or of abortion argue that these constitute legalized murder.
A difficult issue in defining murder is what counts as causing death. It is difficult to give a precise definition of this,
but some legal principles provide guidance. For example, many common law jurisdictions abide by the year and a day rule, which
provides that one is to be held responsible for a person's death only if they die within a year and a day of the act. Thus, if
you seriously injured someone, and they died from their injuries within a year and a day, you would be guilty of murder; but you
would not be guilty if they died from their injuries after a year
and a day had passed.
Not all cases of illegal killing constitute murder. For example, unintentionally caused deaths due to recklessness or negligence are
treated in most countries as the lesser crime of involuntary manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. Similarly,
intentional killings without premeditation are sometimes charged as voluntary manslaughter rather than murder. In addition, some
illegal killings have legal defenses such as insanity or diminished capacity).
Some cases of premeditated, intentional killing have lawful excuse and thus are not legally murder. These include killing
non-surrendered enemy combatants in time of war, killing a person who poses an immediate threat to the lives of oneself or others (i.e., in self-defense), executing a person in accordance with a sentence of death, and, in some countries, abortion under defined circumstances. Sometimes killings under extreme provocation or duress are legally excused as justifiable homicide.
Most countries allow conditions that "affect the balance of the mind" to be regarded as mitigating circumstances against
murder. This means that a person may be found guilty of "manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility" rather than
murder, if it can be proved that they were suffering from a condition that affected their judgement at the time. Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and medication side-effects are examples of conditions that may be taken into account when assessing responsibility. A
somewhat different defense is insanity, which is almost exclusively used in cases
of psychosis such as that caused by schizophrenia. Also, some countries, such as Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and Australia, allow post-partum depression, or 'baby-blues', as a defense against murder of a child by a mother,
provided that a child is less than a year old. See also crime of
passion.
United Kingdom
About 850 murders per year (reported in 2000) are committed in the United Kingdom. This is low compared to the United States with 12,000 per year and Colombia with 26,000. These are only raw numbers which do not take varying populations into account: a
better perspective can be gained by comparing murders per year per hundred thousand population (1 in the UK, 4 in the USA, and 63
in Colombia - source (http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_cap)).
Crime in the U.K., especially gun and violent crime, are steadily increasing. Much of police resources are being used to
tackle gun crime, as recent cases in the media have increased public attention towards it.
In English law, homicide can divided into several offences, including:
- Murder - Killing of another person whilst having either the intention to kill (with "malice aforethought") or to cause
grievous bodily harm.
- Manslaughter - Unintentional and unlawful killing of another person.
- Infanticide - Intentional killing of an infant under 1-year-old by a mother suffering from post-natal depression or other
post-natal disturbance.
The difference between murder and manslaughter is based on intent. English Law also allows for the transfer of intent. For
example, in the circumstances where a man fires a shotgun with the intent to kill person A, or at least maim them but the shot
misses and kills an otherwise unconnected person B then the intent to kill transfers from person A to person B and a charge of
murder would stand.
Most common law jurisdictions, such as British Commonwealth countries, do not allow for the defense of necessity. For example, it is murder to kill another human being for food, even if without doing so one would die
of starvation. This originated in a case of four shipwrecked sailors cast adrift off
the coast of South Africa in the 1880s; two of the sailors conspired to kill one of the other sailors (a sick cabin boy), and having killed him
ate his flesh to survive: R v Dudley and Stevens (1884) 14 QBD
273.
Comparatively recent adaptions to the English law of murder include the abolition of the year and a day rule.
Canada
Canada has about 550 murders per year, a number that is fluctuating. This is equivalent to numbers in most of the western
world, except the U.S. which has triple the number per capita. The main methods of murder in Canada are shootings (30%),
stabbings (30%), and beatings (22%).
Canada has four types of crime that can be considered murder:
- first degree murder - the intentional killing of another person with premeditation, in the furtherance of another serious
criminal offense (kidnapping, robbery, etc.), or the killing of a peace officer
- second degree murder - the intentional killing of another person without premeditation (ie killing in the heat of the
moment)
- manslaughter - the killing of another person where there is no intent to kill
- infanticide - the killing of an infant by a mother while still recovering from the birth, and the mother's mind is
"disturbed"
(there are exceptions to the above - certain types of murder are always first degree murder, such as the killing of a peace
officer, and certain types of killings are murder regardless of intent, such as a death resulting from sexual assault)
The maximum penalties for murder are:
- first degree murder - mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 25 years (can be paroled under the
"faint hope clause" after 15 years imprisonment, but such a reduction is rarely given and is not available for multiple
murders)
- second degree murder - mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 10-25 years (parole eligibility
determined by the judge at sentencing) (exeption: if the person had committed another murder in their past, parole eligibility is
25 years)
- manslaughter - maximum life imprisonment
- infanticide - maximum 5 years imprisonment
For every murder in Canada there are about 1.5 attempted murders.
About one in three Canadian murders are committed by a family member. One in eight is gang related. About 80% of murderers in
Canada are caught within a year.
(All statistics are from the 2001 census)
The United States
In the United States, murder, or "homicide", is normally a crime only
under state law, and a murder suspect will be arrested and held by local officials and tried in a local court on behalf of the
state. For murders that are federal crimes (e.g. a killing of a federal
official or on federal property), the trial would occur in a federal court.
Traditionally, and still in some states, the following terminology is used:
- First-degree murder (or murder in the first degree, or colloquially, murder one) refers to
- premeditated murder, or murder which occurs after some degree of reflection by the murderer. This reflection can be years or
less than a second.
- Second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter refers to
- murder done without thought in the heat of the moment, or in some states after "adequate provocation", or
- Third-degree murder, also known as manslaughter,
- occurs without the specific intent to kill, but usually after an act of criminal negligence or some other act resulting in a person's death.
In some other states, the definitions have been adjusted to reflect factors like perceived need for greater deterrancy, rather
than those usual distinctions. For instance, the murder of a police officer, or any murder committed while serving a life
sentence, is in some states a first-degree murder regardless of further circumstances.
Felony murder statutes
Many jurisdictions in the United States have also adopted felony
murder statutes, according to which anyone who commits a serious crime (a felony),
during which a person dies, is guilty of murder. This applies even if one does not personally cause the person's death. For
example, a driver for an armed robbery can be convicted of murder if one of the robbers killed someone in the process of the
robbery, even though the driver was not present at and did not expect the killing. In a few cases, some robbers have been found
guilty of felony murder for the deaths of their accomplices.
Capital murder
Capital murder is murder which is punishable by death. In 38 of the United States, and the federal government itself, there
are laws allowing capital punishment for this crime. Depending on the state, a murder may qualify as "capital murder" if (a) the
person murdered was of a special class, such as a police officer; (b) "special circumstances" occurred in the crime, such as
multiple murder, the use of poison, or "lying in wait" in order to murder the victim. Capital murder is quite rare in the United
States compared to other murder convictions, but it has generated tremendous public debate. See generally capital punishment and capital punishment in the United
States.
Cultural references
In California, 187
is a well-known slang term for murder, and it often appears in music made in that state. The number refers to the relevant
section of the California Penal Code.
Germany
In Germany the term Mord (murder) is officially used for the killing of
another person:
- for pleasure, satisfaction of the sex drive, greed or other "low motives",
- insidiously (an unsuspecting victim) or cruelly,
- by means dangerous to the public (for example with a bomb),
- to cover up or facilitate another criminal offense.
A killing which is not a murder may be either Totschlag (manslaughter) or fahrlässige Tötung (negligent
killing). The penalty for Mord is lifelong imprisonment (i.e. at least fifteen
years), the penalty for Totschlag is five to fifteen years imprisonment.
The Netherlands
By Dutch law, murder (moord) is punishable by a prison sentence of
up to twenty years, which is the longest prison sentence the law allows. Under special circumstances, such as multiple murders or
prior convictions, a life sentence may be imposed. In addition to a prison sentence, the judge may sentence the suspect to
TBS, or
"terbeschikkingstelling", meaning detention in a psychiatric institution. TBS is
imposed for a number of years (most often in relation to the severity of the crime) and thereafter prolonged if deemed necessary
by a committee of psychiatrists. This can be done indefinitely, and has therefore been criticised as being a life sentence in
disguise.
In 2003, 202 murders were committed in the Netherlands.
Finland
Finnish law calls the crime of causing the death of another human being "manslaughter" (tappo). The minimum sentence is
eight years of imprisonment. Attempt is punishable. The crime of murder (murha) is defined as a manslaughter:
- with a firm intent (i.e. it is planned), or
- done in an especially brutal or cruel way, or
- while endangering public safety severely, or
- of a government official keeping the law and order.
The only sentence for murder is life in prison. However, the president can and usually will give a pardon (when requested)
some time after 12 years. Involuntary confinement to a psychiatric institution may also result. It ends when the psychiatrist
decides so, or when a court decrees it no longer necessary in a periodical review.
There is also the crime of "death" (surma), which is a "manslaughter" under mitigating circumstances, with the
punishment of four to ten years. Involuntary
manslaughter (kuolemantuottamus) has a maximum punishment of two years of prisonment or fine (see day fine).
Other uses of the word
The word "murder" is sometimes used colloquially to mean some forms of mistreatment, e.g. a bad singer "murdering" a song, or
describing something difficult to handle as "absolute murder". Additionally, the term is used to refer to a group of crows, and
sometimes during sports play an opponent may tell his rival "I'm gonna murder you!",
"I'm gonna kill you!", "I'm murdering you!" or "I'm killing you!".
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