Murder and Homicide

Murder and Homicide are similar in what the crime is however, differ in definition. Murder in the state of Washington even falls under the definition of homicide; it is one type of homicide. In addition, murder and homicide range in the class of felony the crime falls under.  In the state of Washington, murder is a class A felony. If the offender is found guilty, the sentence is life in prison or if found guilty of first degree murder then the offender can receive the death penalty. Homicide in the state of Washington is a killing of another human being whether it is by “the act, procurement, or omission of another, death occurring at any time, and is either murder, homicide by abuse, manslaughter, excusable homicide, or justifiable homicide”.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_%28United_States_law%29#Washington

                   http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=10.95.020           

                   http://www.glblaw.com/homicide-laws-in-washington-state

The Media:

A recent story in the Seattle Times wrote on a story of a young man, Michael Boysen, who murdered two people, his grandparents, Robert and Norma Taylor in March 2013. Boysen was recently released from prison where he had been in and out for multiple offenses. Boysen had murdered his grandparents the day after his release. The police found Boysen in Oregon to which they brought him back to Washington and his sentences has not yet been given. The media has wrote on this story in many different newspapers and media outlets however, I feel it has not been very dramatized in the media, like the Amanda Knox story to which I had found multiple times in my research.

Reference:

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020614282_apwawashingtonfugitive5thldwritethru.html    

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020542968_boysenhuntxml.html  

 Media Aspect:

The first media aspect on the topic of murder in homicide I found to be interesting was “How to commit the perfect Murder”. This 50 minute documentary I found to be quite fascinating. The documentary explores possible ways to murder someone yet how amazing technology and investigators are in detecting these crimes. Here is a link to the page where you can watch the documentary for free!

Link: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/perfect-murder/ 

 

Another Media aspect I found is called “Living with Murder”. This documentary follows the city of Detroit and the murders to that took place. The documentary follows families in Detroit who have lost family members in a homicide case. The link below is to access the documentary.

Link:  http://www.freep.com/interactive/article/20111116/NEWS01/111115067/Living-murder-video-documentary-Meet-those-touched-by-Detroit-homicide