Before we can discuss the crime of murder, I must point out the difference between murder and homicide. Homicide is any killing of one person by another. Murder is the unlawful killing of one person by another and normally involves intent, malice, and - often times - hatred.

 

A good example of lawful homicide is a shootout between cops and robbers. Officers who shoot and kill the robber in self-defense and in the line of duty have committed a lawful homicide. The BTK killer and Jeffery Dahmer committed murder.

 

A real-life murder scene is an arena that activates all a cop's senses. A well-written murder does the same for your readers.

 

Walking up to a murder scene feels like stepping into a still photograph as if, at some point during the departure of life, the action stopped. The sight that greets the cop looks like a scene from a play that has not yet been completed. The body of the victim lies on stage like a long-forgotten prop, its shell hollow and cold; its eyes looking but not seeing - the only evidence of a departed soul. The death-switch stops blood in mid-flow and brings screams to the brink of sound, but holds them forever on lips frozen with rigor mortis. Insects crawl and feast, oblivious to the macabre nature of their smorgasbord.

 

Sounds are muted and distorted. A dripping faucet sounds miles away. Footsteps in soft carpeting echo lifelessly against bullet-riddled and blood-stained walls. Cameras flash silently.

 

Murder has its own smell that's punctuated by copper-scented blood and the almost sweet odor of lingering gunpowder. It's the smell of pain and despair. It reeks of fear and horror, and of sweat and wet linen, mingled with the stench of damp carpeting and rotting flesh. It's the smell of death - a smell that can be tasted on the tongue and can never be spat out.

 

The body is cold and rubbery to the touch, like firm Jell-O.

 

As I write these short paragraphs, reflections of various murder scenes I've investigated come to my mind, vivid images that will never leave my memories. The hairs on the back of my neck stand today as they did then.

 

A well-written murder scene should do that, too. It should make the hairs on the back of your readers' necks stand on end. Their skin should crawl. Your words should stimulate those same emotions later, when they remember reading your story.

 

When you write, remember that your protagonist has emotions. Detectives feel the same things you do. They try not to show it, but later, alone, they often do. 

Until next time, I'm 10-7, out of service.