MURDER. In the earlier periods of I English jurisprudence, murder, mardrum, was a term used to describe the secret destruction of life, witnessed and known by none besides the slayer and any ac complices that he might have. Murdntm was also the name of a pecuniary penalty imposed, until the reign of Edward III., upon the county or district in which such a secret killing had taken place. One of the modes of escaping from this penalty was, a presentment of Englishry ; in other words, a finding by the coroner's inquest, upon the statement of the relations of the deceased, that he was an Englishman ; the sole object of the amercement having been the protection of Danes, and after wards of the Normans, from assassination by the English. (Glanville ; Reeves.) By the grant of mnrdra,' which is com monly found in ancient charters of fran chises, the right to receive these amerce ments within the particular districts, passed from the crown to the grantee. Amercements for non-presentment of Englishry were abolished in 1340, by 14 Edw. III. st. 1, c. 4.
As the law formerly stood, every de struction of human life, not effected in this secret manner, with whatever cir cumstances of malignity and cruelty it might be accomplished, was treated as simple homicide. As the law now stands, murder is the destruction of human life, accompanied with an intention to kill, or do great bodily harm, or wilfully to place human life in peril ; or resulting from an attempt to commit some other felony ; or occurring in the course of resistance of fered to ministers or officers of justice, or others rightfully engaged in carrying the law into execution. All other cases of culpable homicide, in which death is pro duced involuntarily, but is occasioned by want of due caution ; or where, though death is produced voluntarily, the crime is extenuated by circumstances ; or where a minister or officer of justice is killed, but sufficient authority did not exist, or was not communicated to the party before the fatal blow was given ; or where any other circumstances essential to the crime of murder are wanting—amount only to simple felonious homicide, or, as it is eonunonly called, without regard to the age or sex of the party killed, Man slaughter.
In the modern law of England the crime of murder is characterised by hay ing been committed with malice afore thought, or, as it is sometimes called, malice prepense. But the term " malice aforethought" is frequently applied to a state of things in which there is no malice in the ordinary sense of the term, but is only malice in a legal sense. If A shoots at B with intent to kill him, but by mere accident kills C, this is a killing from implied malice. If A, by throwing a heavy stone from the roof of a house into the street in which he knows that people are continually passing, kills B, a mere stranger, this also is a killing from implied malice.
Implied malice is however very loosely defined in the law of England, if it can be said to be defined at all. It is stated, that the existence of implied malice is a pure question of law, or a conclusion of law to be drawn from all the circum stances of the case ; and it is in some cases made to depend upon a very ab struse technical doctrine. The existence or non-existence of a criminal intention, even where that intention has no refer ence to any personal injury, but happens to be accompanied with a killing which is altogether accidental, is made to con stitute the distinction between the higher and lower species of culpable homicide; and in other cases the existence of such criminal intention brings even an acci dental killing within the scope of man slaughter.
Every homicide is presumed to be malicious until the contrary be shown. But circumstances may extenuate the of fence, and reduce it from the crime of murder to that of manslaughter ; or the act may appear to amount either to justi fiable or excusable homicide. In cases of justifiable homicide, and, according to modern practice, in cases of excusable homicide, the party causing the death is discharged from responsibility.