Murder

For other uses, seeMurder (disambiguation).

"Murderer" redirects here. For other uses, seeMurderer (disambiguation).

"Double murder" redirects here. For the film, seeDouble Murder.

Cain slaying Abel,byPeter Paul Rubens,c. 1600

Murderis theunlawful killingof anotherhumanwithoutjustificationor validexcusecommitted with the necessaryintentionas defined by the law in a specificjurisdiction.This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction, distinguish murder from other forms of unlawfulhomicide,such asmanslaughter.Manslaughter is killing committed in the absence ofmalice,such as in the case ofvoluntary manslaughterbrought about by reasonableprovocation,ordiminished capacity.Involuntarymanslaughter,where it is recognized, is a killing that lacks all but the most attenuatedguilty intent,recklessness.

Most societies consider murder to be an extremely serious crime, and thus believe that a person convicted of murder should receive harsh punishments for the purposes ofretribution,deterrence,rehabilitation,orincapacitation.In most countries, a person convicted of murder generally receives a long-term prison sentence, alife sentence,orcapital punishment.

Etymology

The modern English word "murder" descends from theProto-Indo-European*mŕ̥-tromwhich meant "killing", a noun derived from*mer-"to die".

Proto-Germanic,in fact, had two nouns derived from this word, later merging into the modern English noun:*murþrą"death, killing, murder" (directly from Proto-Indo-European*mŕ̥-trom), whenceOld Englishmorðor"secret or unlawful killing of a person, murder; mortal sin, crime; punishment, torment, misery";and*murþrijô"murderer; homicide" (from the verb*murþrijaną"to murder" ), giving Old Englishmyrþra"homicide, murder; murderer". There was a third word for "murder" in Proto-Germanic, continuing Proto-Indo-European*mr̥tós"dead" (compareLatinmors), giving Proto-Germanic*murþą"death, killing, murder" and Old Englishmorþ"death, crime, murder" (compare GermanMord).

The-d-first attested inMiddle Englishmordre, mourdre, murder, murdrecould have been influenced byOld Frenchmurdre,itself derived from the Germanic noun viaFrankish*murþra(compareOld High Germanmurdreo, murdiro), though the same sound development can be seen withburden(fromburthen). The alternativemurther(attested up to the 19th century) springs directly from the Old English forms. Middle Englishmordreis a verb from Anglo-Saxonmyrðrianfrom Proto-Germanic*murþrijaną,or, according to theOxford English Dictionary,from the noun.

Use of the term

In many countries, out of concern for being accused ofdefamation,journalistsare generally careful not to identify a suspect as a murderer until the suspect isconvictedof murder in a court of law. After arrest, for example, journalists may instead write that the person was "arrested on suspicion of murder",or, after a prosecutor files charges, as an "accused murderer".

Opponents of abortion consider abortion a form of murder.In some countries, a fetus is a legal person who can be murdered, and killing a pregnant woman is considered a double homicide.

Definition

The eighteenth-century English juristWilliam Blackstone(citingEdward Coke), in hisCommentaries on the Laws of Englandset out thecommon lawdefinition of murder, which by this definition occurs

when a person, of sound memory and discretion, unlawfully kills any reasonable creature in being and under the king's peace, with malice aforethought, either express or implied.

At common law, murder was normally punishable by death.

The elements of common law murder are:

• unlawful
• killing
• through criminal act or omission
• of a human
• by another human
• intentional killing
• with malice aforethought.
• Unlawful– This distinguishes murder from killings that are done within the boundaries of law, such as capital punishment, justifiedself-defense,or the killing of enemycombatantsby lawful combatants as well as causingcollateral damagetonon-combatantsduring a war.
• Killing– At common law life ended withcardiopulmonary arrest– the total and irreversible cessation of blood circulation and respiration.With advances in medical technology courts have adopted irreversible cessation of all brain function as marking the end of life.
• Criminal act or omission– Killing can be committed by an act or anomission.
• Of a human– This element presents the issue of when life begins. At common law, a fetus was not a human being.Life began when the fetus passed through the vagina and took its first breath.
• By another human– In early common law,suicidewas considered murder.The requirement that the person killed be someone other than the perpetrator excluded suicide from the definition of murder.
• With malice aforethought– Originallymalice aforethoughtcarried its everyday meaning – a deliberate and premeditated (prior intent) killing of another motivated by ill will. Murder necessarily required that an appreciable time pass between the formation and execution of the intent to kill. The courts broadened the scope of murder by eliminating the requirement of actual premeditation and deliberation as well as true malice. All that was required for malice aforethought to exist is that the perpetrator act with one of the four states of mind that constitutes "malice".

In contrast withmanslaughter,murder requires the mental element known as malice aforethought. Mitigating factors that weigh against a finding of intent to kill, such as "loss of control" or "diminished responsibility", may result in the reduction of a murder charge to voluntary manslaughter.

The four states of mind recognised as constituting "malice" are:

1. Intent to kill,
2. Intent to inflictgrievous bodily harmshort of death,
3. Reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life (sometimes described as an "abandoned and malignant heart" ), or
4. Intent to commit a dangerousfelony(the "felony murder"doctrine).

Under state of mind (i), intent to kill, thedeadly weapon ruleapplies. Thus, if the defendant intentionally uses adeadly weaponor instrument against the victim, such use authorises a permissive inference of intent to kill. Examples of deadly weapons and instruments include but are not limited to guns, knives, deadly toxins or chemicals or gases and even vehicles when intentionally used to harm one or more victims.

Under state of mind (iii), an "abandoned and malignant heart", the killing must result from the defendant's conduct involving a reckless indifference to human life and a conscious disregard of an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury. In Australian jurisdictions, the unreasonable risk must amount to a foreseen probability of death (or grievous bodily harm in most states), as opposed to possibility.

Under state of mind (iv), the felony-murder doctrine, the felony committed must be an inherently dangerous felony, such as burglary, arson, rape, robbery or kidnapping. Importantly, the underlying felonycannotbe alesser included offensesuch as assault, otherwise all criminal homicides would be murder as all are felonies.

In Spanish criminal law,asesinato(literally 'assassination'): takes place when any of these requirements concur: Treachery (the use of means to avoid risk for the aggressor or to ensure that the crime goes unpunished), price or reward (financial gain) or viciousness (deliberately increasing the pain of the victim). After the last reform of theSpanish Criminal Code,in force since July 1, 2015, another circumstance that turns homicide (homicidio) into assassination is the desire to facilitate the commission of another crime or to prevent it from being discovered.

As with most legal terms, the precise definition of murder varies between jurisdictions and is usually codified in some form of legislation. Even when the legal distinction between murder and manslaughter is clear, it is not unknown for a jury to find a murder defendant guilty of the lesser offense. The jury might sympathize with the defendant (e.g. in acrime of passion,or in the case of a bullied victim who kills their tormentor), and the jury may wish to protect the defendant from a sentence of life imprisonment or execution.

Degrees

"Murder in the second degree" and "Premeditated murder" redirect here. For the album, seeMurder in the Second Degree.For the film, seePremeditated Murder.

Some jurisdictions divide murder by degrees. The distinction between first- and second-degree murder exists, for example, inCanadian murder lawandU.S. murder law.Some US states maintain the offense ofcapital murder.

The most common division is between first- and second-degree murder. Generally, second-degree murder is common law murder, and first-degree is an aggravated form. The aggravating factors of first-degree murder depend on the jurisdiction, but may include a specific intent to kill, premeditation, or deliberation. In some, murders committed by acts such asstrangulation,poisoning,orlying in waitare also treated as first-degree murder.A few states in the U.S. further distinguishthird-degree murder,but they differ significantly in which kinds of murders they classify as second-degree versus third-degree. For example, Minnesota defines third-degree murder asdepraved-heart murder,whereas Florida defines third-degree murder asfelony murder(except when the underlying felony is specifically listed in the definition of first-degree murder).

Some jurisdictions also distinguish premeditated murder. This is thecrimeof wrongfully and intentionally causing the death of another human being (also known as murder) after rationally considering the timing or method of doing so, in order to either increase the likelihood of success, or to evade detection or apprehension.State laws in the United States vary as to definitions of "premeditation". In some states, premeditation may be construed as taking place mere seconds before the murder. Premeditated murder is one of the most serious forms of homicide, and is punished more severely than manslaughter or other types of homicide, often with alife sentencewithout the possibility ofparole,or in some countries, thedeath penalty.In the U.S.,federal law(18 U.S.C.§ 1111(a)) criminalizes premeditated murder, felony murder and second-degree murder committed under situations where federal jurisdiction applies.In Canada, thecriminal codeclassifies murder as either first- or second-degree. The former type of murder is often called premeditated murder, although premeditation is not the only way murder can be classified as first-degree. In theNetherlands,the traditional strict distinction between premeditated intentional killing (classed as murder,moord) and non-premeditated intentional killing (manslaughter,doodslag) is maintained; when differentiating between murder and manslaughter, the only relevant factor is the existence or not of premeditation (rather than the existence or not of mitigating or aggravated factors). Manslaughter (non-premeditated intentional killing) with aggravating factors is punished more severely, but it is not classified as murder, because murder is an offense which always requires premeditation.

Common law

According to Blackstone, Englishcommon lawidentified murder as apublic wrong.According to common law, murder is considered to bemalum in se,that is, an act which is evil within itself. An act such as murder is wrong or evil by its very nature, and it is the very nature of the act which does not require any specific detailing or definition in the law to consider murder a crime.

Some jurisdictions still take a common law view of murder. In such jurisdictions, what is considered to be murder is defined byprecedentcase law or previous decisions of the courts of law. However, although the common law is by nature flexible and adaptable, in the interests both of certainty and of securing convictions, most common law jurisdictions havecodifiedtheir criminal law and now have statutory definitions of murder.

Exclusions

General

Although laws vary by country, there are circumstances of exclusion that are common in many legal systems.

• The killing of enemy combatants who have not surrendered, when committed by lawful combatants in accordance with lawful orders in war, is generally not considered murder. Illicit killings within a war may constitute murder or homicidalwar crimes;seeLaws of war.
• Self-defense:acting in self-defense or in defense of another person is generally accepted as legal justification for killing a person in situations that would otherwise have been murder. However, a self-defense killing might be considered manslaughter if the killer established control of the situation before the killing took place, such asimperfect self-defense.In the case of self-defense, it is called a "justifiable homicide".
• Unlawful killings without malice or intent are considered manslaughter.
• In many common law countries,provocationis a partial defense to a charge of murder which acts by converting what would otherwise have been murder into manslaughter (this is voluntary manslaughter, which is more severe than involuntary manslaughter).
• Accidental killings are considered homicides. Depending on the circumstances, these may or may not be considered criminal offenses; they are often considered manslaughter.
• Suicide does not constitute murder in most societies. Assisting a suicide, however, may be considered murder in some circumstances.

Specific to certain countries

• Capital punishment:some countries practice the death penalty. Capital punishment may be ordered by a legitimate court of law as the result of a conviction in acriminal trialwithdue processfor a serious crime. All member states of theCouncil of Europeare prohibited from using the death penalty.
• Euthanasia,doctor-assisted suicide: the administration of lethal drugs by a doctor to aterminally illpatient, if the intention is solely to alleviate pain, in many jurisdictions it is seen as a special case (see the doctrine ofdouble effectand the case ofDr John Bodkin Adams).
• Killing to prevent the theft of one's property may be legal under certain circumstances, depending on the jurisdiction.In 2013, a jury in south Texas acquitted a man who killed asex workerwho attempted to run away with his money.
• Killing an intruder who is found by an owner to be in the owner's home (having entered unlawfully): legal in most US states (seeCastle doctrine).
• Killing to prevent specific forms of aggravated rape orsexual assault– killing of attacker by the potential victim or by witnesses to the scene; legal in parts of the US and in various other countries.
• In some countries, the killing for what are considered reasons connected tofamily honor,usually involving killing due to sexual, religious orcastereasons (known ashonor killing), committed frequently by a husband, father or male relative of the victim, is not considered murder; it may not be considered a criminal act or it may be considered a criminal offense other than murder.International law, including theIstanbul Convention(the first legally binding convention againstdomestic violenceandviolence against women) prohibits these types of killings (see Article 42 – Unacceptable justifications for crimes, including crimes committed in the name of so-called honor).
• In the United States, in most states and in federal jurisdiction, a killing by a police officer is excluded from prosecution if the officer reasonably believes they are being threatened with deadly force by the victim. This may include such actions by the victim as reaching into a glove compartment or pocket for license and registration, if the officer reasonably believes that the victim might be reaching for a gun.

Victim

All jurisdictions require that the victim be a natural person; that is, a human being who was still alive before being murdered. In other words, under the law one cannot murder acorpse,a corporation, a non-human animal, or any other non-human organism such as a plant or bacterium.

California's murder statute,penal codesection 187,expressly mentioned a fetus as being capable of being killed, and was interpreted by theSupreme Court of Californiain 1994 as not requiring any proof of the viability of the fetus as a prerequisite to a murder conviction.This holding has two implications. Firstly, a defendant in California can be convicted of murder for killing a fetus which the mother herself could have terminated without committing a crime.And secondly, as stated by JusticeStanley Moskin his dissent, because women carrying nonviable fetuses may not be visibly pregnant, it may be possible for a defendant to be convicted of intentionally murdering a person they did not know existed.

Mitigating circumstances

Some countries allow conditions that "affect the balance of the mind" to be regarded asmitigating circumstances.This means that a person may be found guilty of "manslaughter" on the basis of "diminished responsibility" rather than being found guilty of murder, if it can be proved that the killer was suffering from a condition that affected their judgment at the time.Depression,post-traumatic stress disorderand medicationside-effectsare examples of conditions that may be taken into account when assessing responsibility.

Insanity

Main articles:Insanity defenseandM'Naghten rules

Mental disordermay apply to a wide range of disorders includingpsychosiscaused byschizophreniaanddementia,and excuse the person from the need to undergo the stress of a trial as to liability. Usually,sociopathyand otherpersonality disordersare not legally considered insanity. In some jurisdictions, following the pre-trial hearing to determine the extent of the disorder, the defense of "not guilty by reason of insanity" may be used to get a not guilty verdict.This defense has two elements:

• That thedefendanthad a serious mental illness, disease, or defect
• That the defendant's mental condition, at the time of the killing, rendered the perpetrator unable to determine right from wrong, or that what they were doing was wrong

Aaron Alexisholding a shotgun during his rampage

UnderNew Yorklaw, for example:

§ 40.15 Mental disease or defect. In any prosecution for an offense, it is an affirmative defence that when the defendant engaged in the proscribed conduct, he lacked criminal responsibility by reason of mental disease or defect. Such lack of criminal responsibility means that at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or defect, he lacked substantial capacity to know or appreciate either: 1. The nature and consequences of such conduct; or 2. That such conduct was wrong.

— N.Y. Penal Law,§ 40.15

Under theFrench Penal Code:

Article 122-1

• A person is not criminally liable who, when the act was committed, was suffering from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder which destroyed his discernment or his ability to control his actions.
• A person who, at the time he acted, was suffering from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder which reduced his discernment or impeded his ability to control his actions, remains punishable; however, the court shall take this into account when it decides the penalty and determines its regime.
  — Penal Code §122-1 found atLegifrance web site

Those who successfully argue a defense based on a mental disorder are usually referred to mandatory clinical treatment until they are certified safe to be released back into the community, rather than prison.

Postpartum depression

Postpartum depression(also known as post-natal depression) is recognized in some countries as a mitigating factor in cases ofinfanticide.According to Susan Friedman, "Two dozen nations have infanticide laws that decrease the penalty for mothers who kill their children of up to one year of age. The United States does not have such a law, but mentally ill mothers may plead not guilty by reason of insanity."In thelaw of the Republic of Ireland,infanticide was made a separate crime from murder in 1949, applicable for the mother of a baby under one year old where "the balance of her mind was disturbed by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to the child or by reason of the effect of lactation consequent upon the birth of the child".Since independence, death sentences for murder in such cases had always beencommuted;the new act was intended "to eliminate all the terrible ritual of theblack capand the solemn words of the judge pronouncing sentence of death in those cases... where it is clear to the Court and to everybody, except perhaps the unfortunate accused, that the sentence will never be carried out. "In Russia, murder of a newborn child by the mother has been a separate crime since 1996.

Unintentional

For a killing to be considered murder in nine out of fifty states in the US, there normally needs to be an element of intent. A defendant may argue that they took precautions not to kill, that the death could not have been anticipated, or was unavoidable. As a general rule,manslaughterconstitutesrecklesskilling, but manslaughter also includes criminally negligent (i.e. grossly negligent) homicide.Unintentional killing that results from an involuntary action generally cannot constitute murder.After examining the evidence, a judge or jury (depending on the jurisdiction) would determine whether the killing was intentional or unintentional.

Diminished capacity

In jurisdictions using the Uniform Penal Code, such as California,diminished capacitymay be a defense. For example,Dan Whiteused this defenseto obtain a manslaughter conviction, instead of murder, in theassassinationof MayorGeorge Mosconeand SupervisorHarvey Milk.Afterward, California amended its penal code to provide "As a matter of public policy there shall be no defense of diminished capacity, diminished responsibility, or irresistible impulse in a criminal action...."

Aggravating circumstances

Murder with specifiedaggravating circumstancesis often punished more harshly. Depending on the jurisdiction, such circumstances may include:

• Premeditation
• Poisoning
• Lying in wait
• Murder of a child
• Murder committed duringsexual assault
• Murder committed duringkidnapping
• Multiple murders committed within one criminal transaction or in different transactions as part of one broader scheme
• Murder of a police officer,judge, firefighter or witness to a crime
• Murder of a pregnant woman
• Crime committed for pay or other reward, such ascontract killing
• Exceptional brutality or cruelty,torture murder
• Murder committed by an offender previously convicted of murder
• Methods which are dangerous to the publice.g. explosion, arson, shooting in a crowd etc.
• Murder for a political cause
• Murder committed in order to conceal another crime or facilitate its commission.
• Murder committed in order to obtain material gain, for example to obtain an inheritance
• Hate crimes,which occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their perceived membership in a certain social group.
• Treachery (e.g.HeimtückeinGerman law)

In the United States and Canada, these murders are referred to asfirst-degreeoraggravatedmurders.UnderEnglish criminal law,murderalways carries a mandatorylife sentence,but is not classified into degrees. Penalties for murder committed under aggravating circumstances are often higher under English law than the 15-year minimum non-parole period that otherwise serves as a starting point for a murder committed by an adult.

Felony murder rule

Main article:Felony murder rule

A legaldoctrinein some common law jurisdictions broadens the crime of murder: when an offender kills in the commission of a dangerous crime, (regardless of intent), he or she is guilty of murder. The felony murder rule is often justified by its supporters as a means of preventing dangerous felonies,but the case ofRyan Holleshows it can be used very widely.

The felony-murder reflects the versari in re illicita: the offender is objectively responsible for the event of the unintentional crime;in fact the figure of the civil law systems corresponding to felony murder is the preterintentional homicide (art. 222-7 French penal code,art. 584 Italian penal code,art. 227 German penal codeetc.). Felony murder contrasts with the principle of guilt, for which in England it was, at least formally, abolished in 1957, in Canada it was quashed by the Supreme Court, while in the USA it continues to survive.

Year-and-a-day rule

Main article:Year and a day rule

In some common law jurisdictions, adefendantaccused of murder is not guilty if the victim survives for longer thanone year and one dayafter the attack.This reflects the likelihood that if the victim dies, other factors will have contributed to the cause of death, breaking the chain ofcausation;and also means that the responsible person does not have a charge of murder "hanging over their head indefinitely".Subject to anystatute of limitations,the accused could still be charged with an offense reflecting the seriousness of the initial assault.

With advances in modern medicine, most countries have abandoned a fixed time period and test causation on the facts of the case. This is known as "delayed death" and cases where this was applied or was attempted to be applied go back to at least 1966.

In England and Wales, the "year-and-a-day rule" was abolished by theLaw Reform (Year and a Day Rule) Act 1996.However, if death occurs three years or more after the original attack then prosecution can take place only with theattorney-general's approval.

In the United States, many jurisdictions have abolished the rule as well.Abolition of the rule has been accomplished by enactment of statutory criminal codes, which had the effect of displacing the common-law definitions of crimes and corresponding defenses. In 2001 theSupreme Court of the United Statesheld that retroactive application of a state supreme court decision abolishing the year-and-a-day rule did not violate theEx Post FactoClause ofArticle I of the United States Constitution.

The potential effect of fully abolishing the rule can be seen in the case of 74-year-old William Barnes, charged with the murder of a Philadelphia police officer Walter T. Barclay Jr., who he had shot nearly 41 years previously. Barnes had served 16 years in prison for attempting to murder Barkley, but when the policeman died on August 19, 2007, this was alleged to be from complications of the wounds suffered from the shooting – and Barnes was charged with his murder. He was acquitted on May 24, 2010.

Contributing factors

According to Peter Morrall, the motivations for murder fit into the following 4 categories:

• Lust:The murderer seeks to kill rivals to obtain objects of their sexual desire
• Love:The murderer seeks to "mercy kill"a loved one with a major deformity or an incurable illness.
• Loathing:The murderer seeks to kill a loathed person (such as an abusive parent) or members of a loathed group or culture.
• Loot:The murderer seeks some form of financial gain.

Morall takes a biological view of offending when he insists the risk factors that may increase the chance that somebody will commit a murder include:

• Testosterone,the primary male sex hormone, is correlated with competitive and assertive behaviour.
• Reduction inserotoninincreases likelihood of impulsive hostile behaviour.
• Alteration in thebreakdown of glucoseappears to affect mood and behaviour.
• HyperglycemiaandHypoglycemiacan both lead to aggression.
• Consumption of alcoholcan lead to reduced self control.
• Environmental pollutantscirculating in the body are linked to heightened aggression.
• Malnutritionfrom eating too muchjunk foodcan provoke aggressive behaviour and even murder.

Certainpersonality disordersare associated with an increased homicide rate, most notably narcissistic, anti-social, and histrionic personality disorders and those associated with psychopathology.

Several studies have shown that there is a correlation between murder rates andpoverty.A 2000 study showed that regions of the state ofSão Pauloin Brazil with lower income also had higher rates of murder.

Religious attitudes

Abrahamic context

A group ofThugsstrangling a traveller on a highway in the early 19th century

In theAbrahamic religions,the first ever murder was committed byCainagainst his brother Abel out ofjealousy.In the past, certain types of homicide were lawful and justified. Georg Oesterdiekhoff wrote:

Evans-Pritchard says about theNuerfrom Sudan: "Homicide is not forbidden, and Nuer do not think it wrong to kill a man in fair fight. On the contrary, a man who slays another in combat is admired for his courage and skill." (Evans-Pritchard1956: 195) This statement is true for most African tribes, for pre-modern Europeans, for Indigenous Australians, and for Native Americans, according to ethnographic reports from all over the world.... Homicides rise to incredible numbers amongheadhuntercultures such as thePapua.When a boy is born, the father has to kill a man. He needs a name for his child and can receive it only by a man, he himself has murdered. When a man wants to marry, he must kill a man. When a man dies, his family again has to kill a man.

In many such societies the redress was not via a legal system, but byblood revenge,although there might also be a form of payment that could be made instead—such as theweregildwhich in earlyGermanic societycould be paid to the victim's familyin lieuof their right of revenge.

One of the oldest-known prohibitions against murder appears in the SumerianCode of Ur-Nammuwritten sometime between 2100 and 2050BC.The code states, "If a man commits a murder, that man must be killed."

Judaism and Christianity

Theprohibition against murderis one of theTen Commandmentsgiven by God to Moses inExodus20:2–17andDeuteronomy5:6–21,which are part of the scripture for both Jews and Christians.

In Islam

InIslamaccording to theQur'an,one of thegreatest sinsis to kill a human being who has committed no fault.

"Do not take a ˹human˺ life—made sacred by Allah—except with ˹legal˺ right."^[Quran17:33]

"That is why We ordained for the Children of Israel that whoever takes a life—unless as a punishment for murder or mischief in the land—it will be as if they killed all of humanity; and whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity."^[Quran5:32]

"˹They are˺ those who do not invoke any other god besides Allah, nor take a ˹human˺ life—made sacred by Allah—except with ˹legal˺ right,¹nor commit fornication. And whoever does ˹any of˺ this will face the penalty. "^[Quran25:68]

Historical attitudes

The termassassinderives fromHashshashin,a militantIsmailiShi'ite sect, active from the 8th to 14th centuries. This mysticsecret societykilled members of theAbbasid,Fatimid,SeljuqandCrusaderelite for political and religious reasons.TheThuggeecult that plagued India was devoted toKali,the goddess of death and destruction.According to some estimates the Thuggees murdered 1 million people between 1740 and 1840.TheAztecsbelieved that without regular offerings of blood the sun godHuitzilopochtliwould withdraw his support for them and destroy the world as they knew it.According toRoss Hassig,author ofAztec Warfare,"between 10,000 and 80,400 persons" weresacrificedin the 1487 re-consecration of theGreat Pyramid of Tenochtitlan.Japanesesamuraihad theright to strikewith their sword at anyone of alower classwho compromised their honour.

Slavery

Southern slave codes did make willful killing of aslaveillegal in most cases.For example, the 1860Mississippicase ofOliver v. Statecharged the defendant with murdering his own slave.In 1811, the wealthy white planterArthur Hodgewas hanged for murdering several of his slaves on his plantation in theVirgin Islands.

Honor killings in Corsica

InCorsica,vendettawas a social code that required Corsicans to kill anyone who wronged their family honor. Between 1821 and 1852, no fewer than 4,300 murders were perpetrated in Corsica.

Incidence

See also:List of countries by intentional homicide rate

International murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants, 2011

0–1

1–2

2–5

5–10

10–20

>20

TheWorld Health Organizationreported in October 2002 that a person is murdered every 60 seconds.An estimated 520,000 people were murdered in 2000 around the globe. Another study estimated the worldwide murder rate at 456,300 in 2010 with a 35% increase since 1990.Two-fifths of them were young people between the ages of 10 and 29 who were killed by other young people.Because murder is the least likely crime to go unreported, statistics of murder are seen as abellwetherof overall crime rates.

Historical variation

Intentional homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants, 2009

According to scholar Pieter Spierenburghomicide ratesper 100,000 in Europe have fallen over the centuries, from 35 per 100,000 in medieval times, to 20 in 1500 AD, 5 in 1700, to below two per 100,000 in 1900.

In the United States, murder rates have been higher and have fluctuated. They fell below 2 per 100,000 by 1900, rose during the first half of the century, dropped in the years following World War II, and bottomed out at 4.0 in 1957 before rising again.The rate stayed in 9 to 10 range most of the period from 1972 to 1994, before falling to 5 in present times.The increase since 1957 would have been even greater if not for the significant improvements in medical techniques and emergency response times, which mean that more and more attempted homicide victims survive. According to one estimate, if the lethality levels of criminal assaults of 1964 still applied in 1993, the country would have seen the murder rate of around 26 per 100,000, almost triple the actually observed rate of 9.5 per 100,000.

The historical homicide rate inStockholmsince 1400 AD. The murder rate was very high in theMiddle Ages.The rate has declined greatly: from 45/100,000 to a low of 0.6 in the 1950s. The last decades have seen the homicide rate rise slowly.

A similar, but less pronounced pattern has been seen in major European countries as well. The murder rate in the United Kingdom fell to 1 per 100,000 by the beginning of the 20th century and as low as 0.62 per 100,000 in 1960, and was at 1.28 per 100,000 as of 2009.The murder rate in France (excluding Corsica) bottomed out after World War II at less than 0.4 per 100,000, quadrupling to 1.6 per 100,000 since then.

The specific factors driving these dynamics in murder rates are complex and not universally agreed upon. Much of the raise in the U.S. murder rate during the first half of the 20th century is generally thought to be attributed to gang violence associated withProhibition.Since most murders are committed by young males, the near simultaneous low in the murder rates of major developed countries circa 1960 can be attributed to low birth rates during the Great Depression and World War II. Causes of further moves are more controversial. Some of the more exotic factors claimed to affect murder rates include the availability of abortionand the likelihood of chronic exposure toleadduring childhood (due to the use of leaded paint in houses andtetraethylleadas a gasoline additive in internal combustion engines).

Rates by country

Murder ratesvary greatly among countries and societies around the world. In theWestern world,murder rates in most countries have declined significantly during the 20th century and are now between 1 and 4 cases per 100,000 people per year.Latin America and the Caribbean,the region with the highest murder rate in the world,experienced more than 2.5 million murders between 2000 and 2017.

UNODC: Per 100,000 population (2011)

Murder rates in jurisdictions such as Japan, Singapore,Hong Kong,Iceland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Germany are among the lowest in the world, around 0.3–1 cases per 100,000 people per year; the rate of the United States is among the highest ofdeveloped countries,around 4.5 in 2014,with rates in larger cities sometimes over 40 per 100,000.The top ten highest murder rates are in Honduras (91.6 per 100,000), El Salvador, Ivory Coast, Venezuela, Belize, Jamaica,U.S. Virgin Islands,Guatemala, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Zambia. (UNODC, 2011 –full tablehere).

The following absolute murder counts per-country are not comparable because they are not adjusted by each country's total population. Nonetheless, they are included here for reference, with 2010 used as the base year (they may or may not include justifiable homicide, depending on the jurisdiction). There were 52,260 murders in Brazil, consecutively elevating the record set in 2009.Over half a million people were shot to death in Brazil between 1979 and 2003.33,335 murder cases were registered across India,approximately 17,000 murders in Colombia (the murder rate was 38 per 100,000 people, in 2008 murders went down to 15,000),approximately 16,000 murders in South Africa,approximately 15,000 murders in the United States,approximately 26,000 murders in Mexico,about 8,000 murders committed in Russia,approximately 13,000 murders in Venezuela,approximately 4,000 murders in El Salvador,approximately 1,400 murders in Jamaica,approximately 550 murders in Canadaand approximately 470 murders in Trinidad and Tobago.Pakistan reported 12,580 murders.

United States

TheLake Bodom murdersinEspoo,Finland is the most famous unsolved homicide case in Finnish criminal history.The tent is investigated immediately after the murders in 1960.

The scene of a murder inRio de Janeiro.More than 800,000 people were murdered in Brazil between 1980 and 2004.

In the United States, 666,160 people were killed between 1960 and 1996.Approximately 90% of murders in the US are committed by males.Between 1976 and 2005, 23.5% of all murder victims and 64.8% of victims murdered by intimate partners were female.For women in the US, homicide is the leading cause of death in the workplace.

In the US, murder is the leading cause of death forAfrican Americanmales aged 15 to 34. Between 1976 and 2008, African Americans were victims of 329,825 homicides.In 2006, theFederal Bureau of Investigation's Supplementary Homicide Report indicated that nearly half of the 14,990 murder victims that year were black (7421).In the year 2007, there were 3,221 black victims and 3,587 white victims of non-negligent homicides. While 2,905 of the black victims were killed by a black offender, 2,918 of the white victims were killed by white offenders. There were 566 white victims of black offenders and 245 black victims of white offenders.The "white" category in theUniform Crime Reports(UCR) includes non-blackHispanics. Murder demographics are affected by the improvement oftrauma care,which has resulted in reduced lethality of violent assaults – thus the murder rate may not necessarily indicate the overall level of social violence.

Workplace homicide, which tripled during the 1980s, is the fastest growing category of murder in America.

Development of murder rates over time in different countries is often used by both supporters and opponents of capital punishment andgun control.Using properly filtered data, it is possible to make the case for or against either of these issues. For example, one could look at murder rates in the United States from 1950 to 2000,and notice that those rates went up sharply shortly after amoratorium on death sentenceswas effectively imposed in the late 1960s. This fact has been used to argue that capital punishment serves as a deterrent and, as such, it is morally justified. Capital punishment opponents frequently counter that the United States has much higher murder rates than Canada and mostEuropean Unioncountries, although all those countries have abolished the death penalty. Overall, the global pattern istoo complex,and on average, the influence of both these factors may not be significant and could be more social, economic, and cultural.

Despite the immense improvements inforensicsin the past few decades, the fraction of murders solved has decreased in the United States, from 90% in 1960 to 61% in 2007.Solved murder rates in major U.S. cities varied in 2007 from 36% inBoston,Massachusettsto 76% inSan Jose,California.Major factors affecting the arrest rate include witness cooperationand the number of people assigned to investigate the case.

Investigation

The success rate ofcriminal investigationsinto murders (theclearance rate) tends to be relatively high for murder compared to other crimes, due to its seriousness. In the United States, the clearance rate was 62.6% in 2004.

See also

Related lists

• Lists of murders
• List of types of killing
  • Axe murder
• List of unsolved deaths

Related topics

• Assassination,the murder of a prominent person, such as ahead of stateorhead of government.
• Capital murder
• Child murder
• Culpable homicide
• Depraved-heart murder
• Letting die
• Mass murder
• Misdemeanor murder
• Murder conviction without a body
• Nonkilling
• Seven laws of Noah
• Soldiers are murderers
• Stigmatized property
• Thrill killing

Laws by country

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• Cuba
• Denmark
• England and Wales
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• India
• Israel
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Northern Ireland
• Norway
• Peru
• Portugal
• Romania
• Russia
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United States

Bibliography

• Lord Mustill on the Common Law concerning murder
• Sir Edward CokeCo. Inst., Pt. III, ch.7, p. 50

External links

• Introduction and Updated Information on the Seville Statement on Violence
• The Seville Statement
• Atlas of United States Mortality– U.S. Centers for Disease Control
• Cezanne's depiction of "The Murder"– National Museums Liverpool