 Now, for a case of murder, and also manslaughter, and the difference between the two. Murder is killing someone with malice of forethought. This is fancy lawyer talk for killing someone with a particular intent. There are several ways you can kill someone that the law considers sufficient to show malice of forethought. First, it's murder if you would plan to kill someone or cause some serious bodily harm and then you go ahead and kill them. Well duh. The state has to prove that you plan to kill or seriously hurt someone. One way that is easier is if you used a deadly weapon. The idea is that while it's possible that you plan to kill someone even if you didn't use a deadly weapon, it's more likely you were planning to kill or cause serious harm if you did use it. That doesn't mean using a deadly weapon is proof, but it makes it a lot easier for the prosecutor to prove their case. Another kind of murder is where someone kills another person without planning it, that acts extremely recklessly. Not just regular recklessness, mind you, but such extreme recklessness that it shows the court what it calls a depraved heart. Instead of planning to kill someone, you can commit a murder where the killing occurs while you're committing a felony, like robbery, burglary, rape, and so on. A felony murder doesn't require the killer to plan to kill someone. So if you're committing a felony and you recklessly kill someone, that's murder, even though it wouldn't be murder if you weren't committing the felony. The moral here, don't commit felonies. Even the cool ones, like badger launching. That's murder. Manslaughter is basically any other kind of criminal killing. There are different grades depending on the circumstances and the laws in that area, but that's the difference between manslaughter and murder in a nutshell. And there you have it.