Murder is the act of causing the death of another person without legal justification or excuse. The U.S. federal code and most state codes distinguish between different degrees of murder, though state codes differ in how many degrees are recognized (one, two, or three) and how the degrees are defined. In general, however, an act of murder falls under the category of first degree if one or more of the following elements are present:
(1) The perpetrator intended to cause the death of the victim or someone else (malice aforethought, or mens rea), and the perpetrator formed a plan to cause the victim’s death or that of someone else or thought about that outcome for at least a minimum amount of time (premeditation).
(2) The perpetrator caused the death of the victim while committing or attempting to commit any of a range of serious felonies, usually including burglary, robbery, rape, child abuse, arson, and kidnapping, among others. Some states, however, classify such “felony murders” as murder in the second degree.
(3) The victim was a police officer or other law-enforcement official; the perpetrator killed the victim in a particularly gruesome fashion, such as by poison or torture; the perpetrator ambushed the victim; or the perpetrator killed more than one person.
The federal government and most states classify all murders that are not of the first degree as second-degree murders. The category of second-degree murder generally includes murders committed with malicious intent (to kill or to cause grievous bodily injury) but not premeditation and those that occur in the course of certain less-serious felonies (i.e., felonies less serious than those listed in point 2 above).
The three states that recognize third-degree murder define that category in different ways. In Florida third-degree murder is any unlawful killing that occurs in the course of certain less-serious felonies. In Minnesota it is any act causing the death of another that is extremely dangerous and evinces a “depraved mind” or that takes place in the course of illegal activities involving controlled substances. And in Pennsylvania it is any murder that is not a murder of the first or second degree.
The distinctions between first-, second-, and third-degree murder exist because most jurisdictions perceive that not all murders are equally serious as crimes and that some murderers deserve more punishment than others.