Concept, signs and types of murder

The essence of the concept of “murder”

Definition 1
Murder is the intentional causing of death to another person.

The object of the crime is human life. That is why it is important to determine the beginning and end of life. The initial moment of life is the time when the complete expulsion of the fetus from the mother’s body is recorded, that is, when it is separated from the mother’s body (with the exception of an uncut umbilical cord), the fetus experiences spontaneous heartbeat or breathing, and voluntary muscle movement. The moment of death is determined by the fact of irreversible brain death.

The objective side of murder includes:

action (inaction) aimed at taking the life of another person;
as a result of the action (inaction), a socially dangerous consequence must occur - the death of a person;
There must be a causal connection between consequences and action (inaction).

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The subjective side of murder is characterized by the presence of guilt in the form of indirect or direct intent. Attempted murder is associated only with direct intent. A murder is completed only from the moment of death of another person (victim). When committing a murder, it does not matter whether death occurs instantly or after some time.

Note 1

Attempted murder is an action aimed at causing the death of another person, if, due to circumstances beyond the will of the perpetrator, they did not lead to such a result.

Aggravating circumstances

The main list of qualified murders with aggravating features can be found in Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. These crimes include:

killing more than one person;
murder of a person or people close to him for reasons related to the performance of his duties by this person;
murder of the helpless, including minors, and murder associated with kidnapping;
murder of a pregnant woman if the perpetrator knew about the pregnancy;
special cruelty when committing a crime;
a method of murder that is dangerous not only for the victim, but also for other people, and, accordingly, for society as a whole;
blood feud motive;
committing murder as part of a group;
selfish motive for committing a crime - murder for hire, robbery, extortion, banditry;
hooligan motive for committing a crime;
motive for concealing another crime through murder;
motive of hatred towards races, nationalities, religions and social groups;
the motive for obtaining organs or tissues from a murdered person.

In addition to the aggravating circumstances specified in Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, when qualifying murder, the motives for committing terrorist acts are assessed, as well as violation of the rules of warfare from other articles of the criminal code.

The maximum penalty for qualified murder is death. Life imprisonment and imprisonment for a term of 8 to 20 years are also applied. For simple murder, punishment under Part 1 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - imprisonment for a term of 6 to 15 years.

Signs of murder

Murder differs from intentional infliction of bodily harm leading to the death of the victim on the subjective side. The intent of the perpetrator in a murder is aimed at directly taking the life of the victim.

The subject of the murder is a sane person who has reached 14 years of age.

Murder is committed by action or omission. In practice, the most common murders are those committed as a result of an act. In this case, the anatomical integrity and functions of vital organs are disrupted. Most actions that cause death are physical in nature. Sometimes murder is committed as a result of mental influence on a person. Murder by omission is observed when the guilty person is obliged to take care of the victim and could and should have taken certain actions that would have prevented the death of the person.

Finished works on a similar topic

Course work The concept, signs and types of murder 470 ₽ Abstract The concept, signs and types of murder 280 ₽ Examination The concept, signs and types of murder 250 ₽

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Main signs of murder:

violent nature of death, death is caused by force on a person;
illegality - any murder (except for the lawful deprivation of life) is prosecuted by law;
murder is a criminal act that causes the death of a person or encroaches on his life; it is necessary to distinguish murder from unintentional causing of death;
taking the life of another person.

Justifiable deprivation of life is the infliction of death in a state of necessary defense, as a result of the execution of a death sentence. Murder is the unlawful taking of another person's life (not aiding or killing someone). A request for murder from another person does not exclude responsibility for the crime. A person who knowingly carries out euthanasia bears criminal liability for committing murder.

Other circumstances

Circumstances that change the killer's responsibility can only be aggravating or mitigating his guilt. The signs of a qualified murder are described above; let’s move on to the mitigating circumstances that transfer these murders to the category of privileged murders. The privilege is that the penalty for these crimes is lower than the minimum penalty for simple murder.

For each privileged murder, there is a separate article in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The law establishes that the following circumstances mitigate the guilt of murder:

murder of a newborn child by its mother during childbirth or immediately after it. Art. 106 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Maximum penalty - 5 years imprisonment;
a murder that occurred in a state of strong emotional excitement (affect). In accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, affect must arise as a result of the actions of the victim associated with violence, humiliation and insult to the killer, with the creation of a long-term traumatic situation for the future killer. Art. 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If one person is killed, the maximum penalty is 3 years of imprisonment, if several are killed - 5 years of imprisonment;
murder in excess of necessary measures. The article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is divided into two parts. The first describes the excess of self-defense measures, the second - the excess of measures when detaining a criminal. Art. 108 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The maximum penalty for the first part is 2 years in prison, for the second part - 3 years.

From the point of view of jurisprudence, there are no other murders other than simple, qualified and privileged ones. However, other types of murders have taken hold in the popular consciousness. Let's briefly look at the most commonly used names.

Domestic murder

This concept refers to murders that occurred on the basis of hostile relationships that arose during everyday interaction between the criminal and the victim. Most often, such cases occur in a dysfunctional social environment. Killers and victims are often relatives, neighbors, and acquaintances. Among crimes committed within the family, murders account for 12%.

Naturally, such crimes primarily occur due to alcohol abuse or drug use.

Depending on the circumstances of the domestic murder, the punishment for the offender is determined according to one of the above articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Manslaughter

In jurisprudence this concept is no longer used. Instead they talk about causing death by negligence. This crime is punishable under Art. 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The article is divided into 3 parts:

the first part determines the responsibility of persons who committed this crime in the absence of any aggravating circumstances. The maximum penalty in this case is 2 years in prison;
the second part contains an aggravating feature - the commission of a crime by a person who improperly performed his duties. For this part, the maximum penalty is 3 years in prison;
the third part contains an aggravating circumstance - causing the death of several people. Persons held accountable under this part of the article may be imprisoned for up to 4 years.

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If you are the victim of a crime, a lawyer can help ensure that the perpetrator receives the maximum possible punishment. If you or a loved one is accused of murder, a lawyer will evaluate the actions of the police, appeal them if necessary, and collect all the evidence in the case.

Investigation algorithm

All operational-search activities can be divided into two categories.

Urgent

Inspection of the place where the murder occurred.
Primary study of the remains of the body.
Conducting a forensic medical examination of the available evidence and the corpse.
Interrogation of everyone who could have witnessed the crime and the persons who discovered the corpse.

Subsequent

The process of investigating murders of all types includes the collection, study and analysis of collected physical evidence and other items that can reconstruct the picture of the incident. If the body of the deceased cannot be identified, the investigative authorities take the necessary actions to establish the identity of the deceased.

Persons who may have known the deceased are involved in the process of identifying the corpse. Investigators are matching missing persons reports filed with people similar in age and gender to the person killed. If possible, fingerprints are checked, special features (tattoos, scars) are identified and the data obtained is compared with the Ministry of Internal Affairs database.

It is possible to solve a murder if all the circumstances of the incident have been established. To do this, investigators follow a certain algorithm, regardless of the type of murder:

The fact of murder is established.
The cause of death is determined.
Establishing a direct connection between the actions or inactions of the suspect and the resulting death.
The time period when the crime occurred.
Determining the exact location where the murder was committed.
The situation at the time of the crime.
Conditions accompanying the attacker's action.
The manner in which the illegal act was carried out.
The mechanism for carrying out the act in question.
Determining the identity of the attacker and his data.
Presence of accomplices in the crime committed.
Motives that prompted a person to commit murder.
The goals that the attacker wanted to achieve.
Personal information of the victim.
Establishing a connection and fact of acquaintance between the victim and the attacker.
The nature and extent of damage caused.

The heat of passion

Particular attention will have to be paid to murder committed in a state of passion. This is a mitigating circumstance, but its existence must be proven. But it is worth noting that this is not always possible. The object of the crime is the life of the citizen who caused this condition in the criminal. The objective side includes:

a state of strong emotional excitement that appeared suddenly;
affect is caused by: violence, insults, humiliation, illegal or immoral actions, prolonged stay in an unfavorable psychological environment caused by the actions of the victim.

Suddenness is characterized by:

the appearance of affect immediately after the victim’s actions;
There is no time difference between the crime and the actions of the victim.

The subjective side is usually called affected intent, and the subject in this situation is a citizen who is in a state of passion.

Anticipating the outcome

The decisive role is played by the corpus delicti, that is, the circumstances that could prompt or create the conditions for the murder to occur. The concept, characteristics, types of it - all these are components of the subsequent analysis of the crime, helping to correctly interpret its results. But how can these critical indicators be determined?

A mandatory component of this crime is the presence or absence of intent. This means that the citizen acting as the killer had full knowledge, desire and foresight of causing the death of the person. According to the law, it is impossible to judge a person under a criminal article with the interpretation of “murder” if it was committed through negligence. Such points are considered on an individual basis.