Murder is a criminal act that involves the unlawful killing of one human being by another. It is the most serious offense involving death and is classified by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program as a felonious crime. The UCR Program also reports supplementary homicide data, which includes information on the age, sex and race of victims and offenders; the type of weapon used; and the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Many civil law and common law systems separate the crime of murder into degrees. For example, under English law, murder committed with malice aforethought and premeditation is called first-degree murder, ormurder one, while murder committed without such intent but with recklessness is known as second-degree murder, ormurder two. Some jurisdictions may further distinguish the two categories by defining different kinds of murders: for example, murder of police officers in the line of duty and other government agents is often punished more severely than ordinary felony murders. Some countries may allow a reduction in the level of guilt on the grounds that the killer was suffering from a mental illness, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, which affected his or her ability to judge what he or she was doing at the time. This is sometimes referred to as diminished responsibility.
In the United States, murders are categorized according to a system referred to as the Pennsylvania Method or “degree-of-murder doctrine.” This system classifies certain types of killings as first-degree murder and carries the death penalty. Other killings, such as those that are accidental or caused by provocation, are categorized as second-degree murder.
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