Murder is the intentional, premeditated killing of another human being. The premeditation requirement for murder was historically described in the law as “malice aforethought.”

Laws regarding murder vary from state to state, and some states have a separate criminal offense of capital murder, which usually involves the most egregious circumstances, such as killing a peace officer in the line of duty or lying in wait to ambush and kill the victim. Capital murder offenses carry a potential death penalty.

And some states use the distinction of first degree murder (done with premeditation and punishable by death or life in prison) and second degree murder (generally an intentional killing without premeditation—also known as manslaughter or voluntary manslaughter in some states).

The criminal offense of murder is generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In New Jersey, murder is defined under N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3 as the purposeful or knowing unlawful killing of another human being. Premeditation is inherent in the definition of purposeful killing, which requires that the defendant had the conscious object to cause death or serious bodily injury resulting in death. New Jersey does not have a separate capital murder statute, as the state abolished the death penalty in 2007. Instead, murder is classified as a first-degree crime, with severe penalties including life imprisonment, with a minimum of 30 years to be served before parole eligibility. New Jersey does not use the term 'second degree murder'; instead, it has manslaughter statutes, including aggravated manslaughter and reckless manslaughter, which address killings that occur without the specific intent to cause death. These are considered lesser offenses than murder and carry different penalties.