Murder is the deliberate, malicious and unlawful killing of one
human being by another. Sir Edward Coke defined it as: "when a
man of sound memory, and of the age of discretion, unlawfully
killeth within any county of the realm any reasonable creature
in rerum natura under the king's peace, with malice
aforethought, either expressed by the party or implied by law,
so as the party wounded, or hurt, etc. die of the wound or hurt
etc. within a year and a day after the same." - "A man of sound
memory, and of the age of discretion" means, in essence, a sane
man. - "reasonable creature in rerum natura" means any human
being. - "malice aforethought" is a legal concept and only
requires a momentary intention immediately prior to the act. -
The common law rule that in order for an act to constitute
murder, the victim must die within a year and a day of the
wounding, has now been modified by statute in a number of
jurisdictions. Killing humans is often legalized and committed
without repercussions from governments. Suc