Execution-style murder
An execution-style murder, also known as execution-style killing, is an act of criminal murder where the perpetrator kills at close range a conscious victim who is under the complete physical control of the assailant and who has been left with no course of resistance or escape.
| Part of a series on |
| Homicide |
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| Murder |
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Note: Varies by jurisdiction
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| Manslaughter |
| Non-criminal homicide |
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Note: Varies by jurisdiction |
| By victim or victims |
| Family |
| Other |
Such murders are similar to the usual meaning of execution, which is the taking of life by due process of law.[1] Execution-style killing is most often a shot to the head, and victims sometimes are killed kneeling.
The terminology may derive from the process of binding the victim and killing him/her at close range while conscious. Some thrill killings have variously been described as execution-style murders.
United States
An example of an execution-style murder was the 1929 St. Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago, where a number of assailants posed as police officers. Color of authority, however, is not a defining component of the event, as the crimes of Stanley Williams and Dennis Rader also fall into this category.
The weapon involved is often a handgun. Long guns, blunt instruments, bombs, and bladed weapons have also been used in killings labeled as execution-style, such as the 1993 murder of Bobby Kent in Hollywood, Florida, where Derek Kaufman delivered the fatal blow with an iron club.
References
- Copperud, Roy H. (1980). American Usage and Style: The Consensus. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. p. 134. ISBN 0442216300. OCLC 4805114.