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 Iowa, murder is defined under Iowa Code Section 707.2 as the killing of a person with 'malice aforethought,' either express or implied. Iowa distinguishes between first-degree and second-degree murder. First-degree murder, as per Iowa Code Section 707.2, requires specific elements such as premeditation, willfulness, and deliberation, or it can occur under certain circumstances like during the commission of another serious felony. First-degree murder is a class 'A' felony, which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Second-degree murder, detailed in Iowa Code Section 707.3, involves a killing that is not premeditated or is caused by a person acting with 'malice aforethought' but without the specific intent to kill. It is a class 'B' felony, punishable by up to 50 years in prison. Iowa does not have the death penalty, so even the most serious murders do not result in capital punishment. The term 'voluntary manslaughter,' which is sometimes used in other jurisdictions to describe an intentional killing without premeditation, is not a separate offense in Iowa; such acts would typically be prosecuted under the second-degree murder statute.