Criminal Law Investigation Murder is when a person of sound mind unlawfully kills any person with malice To be convicted of murder, it has to be proven that the accused planned to kill the victim, or that the accused acted in a way that he/she knew would harm or kill the victim. To defend against murder, one could claim self-defence, that is, that they killed the person while defending themselves, if this was proven, the accused should get acquitted. They could also claim they were provoked, if this was proven, the crime would be brought down to manslaughter. The punishment for murder is usually life imprisonment, but the cou