Murder

:For other uses of the word Murder, see Murder (disambiguation).

Murder and other illegal killings

In most countries, if one person kills another person illegally, the killer might be charged with murder, or with some lesser offense, depending upon the circumstances:

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• Unintentionally caused deaths due to recklessness or negligence are treated in most countries as the lesser crime of involuntary manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide
• Intentional killings without premeditation are sometimes charged as voluntary manslaughter rather than murder.
• In many common law jurisdictions, a killer is not guilty of murder if the victim lives longer than a year and a day after the attack.
• In some jurisdictions, killings under extreme provocation or duress are legally excused as justifiable homicide; see crime of passion
• In the US, there are key differences between Homicide and Murder. Homicide is death caused by another person. (Such as self-defense, or accidental). Murder is death caused by another person through illegal means. All murders are homicides, but not all homicides are murders.