Murder

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Murder

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From Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition:
Murder. The unlawful killing of a human being by another with malice aforethought, either express or implied. Com v. Carroll, 194 A.2d 911, 914. The crime is defined by statute in most states (e.g. Calif. Penal Code, § 187). The Model Penal Code definition is as follows:
Criminal homicide constitutes murder when: (a) it is committed purposely or knowingly; or (b) it is committed recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. Such recklessness and indifference are presumed if the actor is engaged or is an accomplice in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit robbery, rape or deviate sexual intercourse by force or threat of force, arson, burglary, kidnapping or felonious escape. Model Penal Code, § 210.2.
See also Assassination; Assault with intent to commit murder; Felony murder doctrine; Homocide; Manslaughter.

Degrees of murder. In most states murder is divided into two degrees, for the purpose of imposing a more severe penalty for some murders than for others. All murder which shall be perpetrated by means of poison, or by lying in wait, or by any other kind of wilful, deliberate and premeditated killing, or which shall be committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate any arson, rape, robbery or burglary, are commonly deemed murder in the first degree; and all other kinds of murder are deemed murder of the second degree. This general pattern has been followed in most of the states although slight changes have been made in a few of these. Some, for example, have omitted any reference to "poison", while a few have added "torture" to "poison". To the felony-murder clause of the statue several have added "mayhem" and sometimes the inclusion of some other felony may be found, such as kidnapping, sodomy or larceny. In certain states there is also the crime of murder in the third degree. For the definition of first and second degree murder under the federal criminal code, see 18 U.S.C.A. § 1111.

Depraved heart murder. Killing of a human being accomplished by extreme trocity; malice is inferred from the act of atrocity. Extremely negligent conduct, which creates what a reasonable man would realize to be not only an unjustifiable but also a very high degree of risk of death or serious bodily injury to another or to others -- thoush unaccompanied by any intent to kill or do serious bodily injury -- and which actually causes the death of another, may constitute murder.

Serial murder. A pattern of murder in which a single individual selects victims either at random or because they share some characteristic.
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Re: Murder

Post by notmartha »

With so much confusion over the difference between "murder" and "kill", this is a good word to study.

Here are some more references:

KJV References

Hārag, Hebrew Strong's #2026, is used 167 times in the Old Testament. It is translated as slay (100), kill (27), murderer (2), destroyed (1), murder (1), out of hand (1), made (1), put (1), slain (31), slayer (1), surely (1). It is translated as “murder” in the following verse:
Psalm 10:8 - He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.

Jeremiah 4:31 - For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

Hosea 9:13 - Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
Rāṣaḥ, Hebrew Strong's #7523, is used 47 times in the Old Testament. It is translated as slayer (16), murderer (14), kill (5), murder (3), slain (3), manslayer (2), killing (1), slayer + <H310> (1), slayeth (1), death (1).
Numbers 35:15-34 These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die; Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait, Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments: And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled; And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession. So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.

2 Kings 6:32 - But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?

Psalm 94:6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.

Jeremiah 7:9-10 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

Hosea 6:9 - And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.

Job 24:14 - The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

Isaiah 1:21 - How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Nākâ, Hebrew Strong's #5221, is used 500 times in the Old Testament. It is translated as smite (348), slay (92), kill (20), beat (9), slaughter (5), stricken (3), given (3), wounded (3), strike (2), stripes (2), miscellaneous translations (13). It is translated as “murderers” in the following verse:
2 Kings 14:6 - But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
Phonos, Greek Strong's #5408, is used 10 times in the New Testament. It is translated as murder (8), slaughter (1), be slain + <G599> (1). It is translated as “murder” in the following verses:
Matthew 15:19 - For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Mark 7:20-23 - And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Mark 15:7 - And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.

Luke 23:18-25 - And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas: (Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.) Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

Romans 1:28-32 - And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Galatians 5:19-21 - Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Revelation 9:21 - Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Phoneus, Greek Strong's #5406, is used 7 times in the New Testament. It is translated as “murderer” in the following verses:
Matthew 22:7 - But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Acts 3:14 - But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

Acts 7:52 - Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Acts 28:4 - And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

1 Peter 4:15 - But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.

Revelation 21:8 - But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Revelation 22:15 - For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Patralōas, Greek Strong's #3964, is used 1 time in the New Testament, translated as "murder of a father".
Mētrolōas, Greek Strong's #3389, is used 1 time in the New Testament, translated as "murderer of a mother." 11
Timothy 1:8-11 - But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
Phoneuō, Greek Strong's #5407, is used 12 times in the New Testament. It is translated as kill (10), do murder (1), and slay (1). It is translated as "do [no] murder" in the following verse:
Matthew 19:17-19 - And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Anthrōpoktonos, Greek Strong's #443, is translated 3 times in the New Testament as "murderer":
John 8:44 - Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

1 John 3:14-15 - We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
Sikarios, Greek Strong's #4607, is used 1 time in the New Testament. It is translated as "murderer" in the following verse:
Acts 21:38 - Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?
Webster's Dictionary, 1828
MUR'DER, noun [Latin mors.]
1. The act of unlawfully killing a human being with premeditated malice, by a person of sound mind. To constitute murder in law, the person killing another must be of sound mind or in possession of his reason, and the act must be done with malice prepense, aforethought or premeditated; but malice may be implied, as well as express.
2. An outcry, when life is in danger.

MUR'DER, verb transitive
1. To kill a human being with premeditated malice. [See the Noun.]
2. To destroy; to put an end to.
Canst thou murder thy breath in middle of a word?

MUR'DERER, noun A person who in possession of his reason, unlawfully kills a human being with premeditated malice.
1. A small piece of ordnance.

ORD'NANCE, noun [from ordinance.] Cannon or great guns, mortars and howitzers; artillery.
Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, 1856
MURDER, crim. law.
1. This, one of the most important crimes that can be committed against individuals, has been variously defined. Hawkins defines it to be the wilful killing of any subject whatever, with malice aforethought, whether the person slain shall be an Englishman or a foreigner. B. 1, c. 13, s. 3. Russell says, murder is the killing of any person under the king's peace, with malice prepense or aforethought, either express or implied by law. 1 Rus. Cr. 421. And Sir Edward Coke, 3 Inst. 47, defines or rather describes this offence to be, " when a person of sound mind and discretion, unlawfully killeth any reasonable creature in being, and under the king's peace, with malice aforethought either express or implied."

2. This definition, which has been adopted by Blackstone, 4 Com. 195; Chitty, 2 Cr. Law, 724; and others, has been severely and perhaps justly criticized. What, it has been asked, are sound memory and understanding? What has soundness of memory to do with the act; be it ever so imperfect, how does it affect the guilt? If discretion is necessary, can the crime ever be committed, for, is it not the highest indiscretion in a man to take the life of another, and thereby expose his own? If the person killed be an idiot or a new born infant, is he a reasonable creature? Who is in the king's peace? What is malice aforethought? Can there be any malice afterthought? Livingst. Syst. of Pen. Law; 186.

3. According to Coke's definition there must be, lst. Sound mind and memory in the agent. By this is understood there must be a will, (q. v.) and legal discretion. (q. v.) 2. An actual killing, but it is not necessary that it should be caused by direct violence; it is sufficient if the acts done apparently endanger. life, and eventually fatal. Hawk. b. 1, c. 31, s. 4; 1 Hale, P. C. 431; 1 Ashm. R. 289; 9 Car. & Payne, 356; S. C. 38 E. C. L. R. 152; 2 Palm. 545. 3. The party killed must have been a reasonable being, alive and in the king's peace. To constitute a birth, so as to make the killing of a child murder, the whole body must be detached from that of the mother; but if it has come wholly forth, but is still connected by the umbilical chord, such killing will be murder. 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1722, note. Foeticide (q. v.) would not be such a killing; he must have been in rerum natura. 4. Malice, either express or implied. It is this circumstance which distiuguishes murder from every description of homicide. Vide art. Malice.

4. In some of the states, by legislative enactments, murder has been divided into degrees. In Pennsylvania, the act of April 22, 1794, 3 Smith's Laws, 186, makes "all murder which shall be perpetrated by means of poison, or by lying in wait, or by any other kind of wilful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or which shall be committed in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate, any arson, rape, robbery, or burglary, shall be deemed murder of the first degree; and all other kinds of murder shall be deemed murder of the second degree; and the jury before whom any person indicted for murder shall be tried, shall, if they find the person guilty thereof, ascertain in their verdict, whether it be murder of the first or second degree; but if such person shall be convicted by confession, the court shall proceed by examination of witnesses, to determine the degree of the crime, and give sentence accordingly. Many decisions have been made under this act to which the reader is referred: see Whart. Dig. Criminal Law, h. t.

5. The legislature of Tennessee has adopted the same distinction in the very words of the act of Pennsylvania just cited. Act of 1829, 1 Term. Laws, Dig. 244. Vide 3 Yerg. R. 283; 5 Yerg. R. 340.

6. Virginia has adopted the same distinction. 6 Rand. R. 721. Vide, generally, Bac. Ab. h. t.; 15 Vin. Ab. 500; Com. Dig. Justices, M 1, 2; Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.; Hawk. Index, h. t.; 1 Russ. Cr. b. 3, c. 1; Rosc. Cr. Ev. h. t. Hale, P. C. Index, h. t.; 4 Bl. Com. 195; 2 Swift's Syst. Index, h. t.; 2 Swift's Dig. Index, h. t.; American Digests, h. t.; Wheeler's C. C. Index, h. t.; Stark. Ev. Index, h. t.; Chit. Cr. Law, Index, h. t.; New York Rev. Stat. part 4, c. 1, t. 1 and 2.

MURDER, pleadings. In an indictment for murder, it must be charged that the prisoner "did kill and murder" the deceased, and unless the word murder be introduced into the charge, the indictment will be taken to charge manslaughter only. Foster, 424; Yelv. 205; 1 Chit. Cr. Law, *243, and the authorities and cases there cited.

MURDRUM, old Engl. law. During the times of the Danes, and afterwards till the reign of Edward III, murdrum was the killing of a man in a secret manner, and in that it differed from simple homicide.

2. When a man was thus killed, and he was unknown, by the laws of Canute he was presumed to be a Dane, and the vill was compelled to pay forty marks for his death. After tlie conquest, a similar law was made in favor of Frenchmen, which was abolished by 3 Edw. III.

3. By murdrum was also understood the fine formerly imposed in England upon a person who had committed homicide perinfortunium or se defendendo. Prin. Pen. 219, note r.
Black's Law Dictionary, 1st Edition, 1891
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