MURDER is the crime of killing a human being of malice aforethought, and is punish able with death. It is immaterial what means are employed to effect the object. Black stone says that the name of inurefer, as a crime, was anciently applied only to the secret killing of another, which the word moerda signifies in the Teutonic language. And among the ancient Goths in Sweden and Denmark the whole vill or neighborhood was punished for the crime, if the murderer was not discovered. Murder is defined by Coke thus: " When a person of sound memory and discretion unlawfully killeth any reason able creature in being, and under the king's peace, with malice aforethought, either express or implied." Almost every word in this definition has been the subject of dis cussion in the numerous cases that have occurred in the law-courts. The murderer must be of sound memory or discretion; i.e., he must be at least 14 years of age, and not a lunatic or idiot.. The act must be done unlawfully, i.e., it must not be in self-defense, or from other justifiable cause. The person killed must be a reasonable creature, and hence killing a child in the womb is not murder, but is punishable in another way (see INFANTICIDE). The essential thing in murder is that it he done maliciously and deliber ately; and hence. in cases of hot blood and scuffling, the offense is generally man slaughter only. Killing by dueling is thus murder, for it is deliberate. It is not neces
sary, in order to constitute murder, that the murderer kill the man he intended, provided he had a deliberate design to murder some one. Thus if one shoots at A, and misses him, but kills B, this is murder, because of the previous felonious intent, which the law transfers from one to the other. So if one lays poison for A, and B, against whom the poisoner had no felonious intent, takes it, and is killed, this is murder. Formerly, in England, the benefit of clergy (q.v.) was allowed in cases of murder, till it was abolished by 7 and 8 Geo. 1Ar. c. 28. The only sentence on murderers is now death, which is canned out by banging. Formerly the murderer was directed after death to be hung on a gibbet in chains near the place of the crime. Formerly, also, dissection was added as part of the sentence, and the execution was to take place on the day next but one after sentence. But now an interval of a fortnight usually takes place, and the body is buried in the precincts of the prison. Attempts to murder were until recently punishable in England like capital felony; but now attempts to murder are punishable only with penal servitude for life, or for not less than three years.