• Murder is the unlawful killing of another human being, or a fetus, with malice aforethought. (Penal Code of the State of California §187)

Murder is a homicide committed with intention to kill or under other specific circumstances which also constitute malice aforethought. Although malice and intención are similar terms, malice is broader than intención since, besides willfulness, denotes a wicked and corrupt disregard of the lives and safety of others. It has been interpreted not only as intent to cause death, but also (at least in the US) as intent to cause grievous bodily harm (resulting in death), reckless indifference to human life, and even intent to commit a felony (resulting in death). In Spanish homicidio doloso, that is intentional homicide, broadly translates as murder, but only homicidio calificado or homicidio con agravantes, that is criminal homicide committed with murderous intent, can be used to translate certain classes of murder with precision (those particularly heinous). Asesinato is the term used in Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Ecuador and Spain and sometimes is also used loosely to mean murder in other Spanish speaking countries.

Related Terms:
intent to kill, intención de causar la muerte, intencionalidad homicida; malice aforethought, dolo específico de homicidio, intencionalidad homicida; manslaughter, homicidio no intencional.