Welcome to the WA Murder article page. Everything you need to know about Murder according to WA law - Dated: 30/11/2011
According to WA Law for the charge of Murder,
Section 279: If a person unlawfully kills another person and:
(a) The person intends to cause the death of that person killed or another person; or
(b) The person intends to cause bodily injury of such a nature as to endanger, or be likely to endanger, the life of the person killed or another person; or
(c) The death is caused by means of an act done in the prosecution of an unlawful purpose, which act is of such a nature as to be likely to endanger human life.
The person is guilty of murder.
For the purposes of (a) and (b) it is immaterial that the person did not intend to hurt the person killed. For the purpose of (c) it is immaterial that the person did not intend to hurt any person.
According to WA Law for the charge of Murder,
If a person is 18 or over and is guilty of murder, they must be sentenced to life imprisonment, unless:
(a) the sentence would be unjust; or
(b) the person is unlikely to be a threat to the community.
If either of these circumstances apply, the maximum sentence is 20 years imprisonment.
(1) The victim is dead;
(2) The offender unlawfully killed the victim; and
(3) The offender either intended to kill or cause bodily harm to that person or another.
If there was no intent to kill or cause GBH the police must prove that the death was caused in the prosecution of an unlawful purpose and that the act which caused the death was likely to endanger life.
(a) Accident;
(b) Insanity;
(c) Duress;
(d) Emergency;
(e) Self-defence;
(f) Identification (ie. Not the person who killed the victim); and
(g) The act of the offender did not cause the death of the victim.
Provocation is not a defence for this offence.
A murder charge will be dealt with in the Supreme Court.
