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 Maine, murder is defined under Title 17-A, Chapter 9 of the Maine Criminal Code. The state distinguishes between murder, which is an intentional or knowing killing of another human being, and manslaughter, which is a killing that occurs under circumstances that don't rise to the level of murder. Maine does not have the death penalty, so even the most serious murder convictions do not result in capital punishment. Instead, a person convicted of murder in Maine faces a minimum sentence of 25 years and can be sentenced up to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Maine law does not use the term 'capital murder,' and it does not have a separate category for first-degree or second-degree murder. Instead, the state uses the terms 'murder' and 'manslaughter' to differentiate the levels of homicide offenses. Premeditation, or 'malice aforethought,' is not a term specifically used in Maine's statutes, but the concept is embedded in the requirement that the killing be intentional or knowing for a charge of murder.