Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Murder is a capital offense and may result in the death penalty, depending on jurisdiction and the state’s laws. Some states and jurisdictions differentiate murder into various degrees, with first-degree murder being considered the most heinous and deserving of the most severe punishment.
A person may not be guilty of murder if there was no premeditation in the case. For example, a person might be convicted of voluntary manslaughter instead of murder if they kill someone in the heat of passion, involuntary intoxication, or if they were insane at the time of the killing and unable to form a plan for the killing.
An article about a specific murder will typically include information about how the victim was killed, whether it was by shooting, stabbing, or some other method. Sometimes, the manner in which a murder was committed will play a prominent role in the media, leading to the adoption of a single common name for the killing based on that descriptor (e.g., the Shooting of Michael Brown). If this single common name changes at a later date, the article should be updated to reflect that.
Writing about murder is a difficult task. It’s essential to gather as much information as possible while still making the story sound credible and balanced. This article includes tips and advice from the Crime Writers Association on how to do that. It also offers an exercise that can help writers to understand how they can evoke the feeling of being in the middle of a murder scene.
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