What is the difference between homicide and murder?

The difference between homicide and murder lies in the presence of aggravating circumstances. Both crimes involve the intentional killing of a person, but murder is considered more serious because it is committed with premeditation, cruelty, for a promise or reward, or with the intent to facilitate or conceal another crime. Just one of these circumstances is enough for a homicide to be classified as murder.

What is homicide?

Homicide is the act of intentionally taking another person’s life, but without any especially cruel, planned, or aggravating circumstances. It is considered the basic type of crime against life and is regulated under Article 138 of the Spanish Criminal Code. It carries a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years. A common example would be a fight that ends fatally, without premeditation or extreme violence.

What is murder?

Murder also involves causing the death of another person, but it differs from homicide due to the presence of aggravating factors that increase the seriousness of the offense. These may include premeditation (alevosía), which means attacking the victim without giving them a chance to defend themselves; cruelty (ensañamiento), where the offender deliberately increases the victim’s physical or psychological suffering; committing the act for payment or reward, such as killing someone in exchange for money; or the intent to facilitate or conceal another crime, like eliminating a witness.

Murder is defined in Article 139 of the Criminal Code and carries a prison sentence of 15 to 25 years. This sentence may be elevated to life imprisonment (subject to review) in particularly serious cases—for example, when the victim is a minor, there is more than one victim, or the murder follows the commission of a sexual offense.

When does a homicide become murder?

A homicide is classified as murder when at least one of the aggravating circumstances listed in Article 139 of the Criminal Code is present. It is not necessary for several to occur just one is sufficient to increase the severity of the charge. For example, if the victim is unable to defend themselves and the attacker acts with premeditation, the crime is no longer homicide, but murder.

What aggravating factors can increase the penalty?

In addition to the elements that elevate homicide to murder, there are other aggravating factors that can further increase the penalty:

• The victim is under 16 years old or especially vulnerable due to age, illness, or disability
• The murder is related to a prior sexual offense committed by the perpetrator
• The crime was committed by members of a criminal group or organization
• The perpetrator kills more than one person

In these cases, life imprisonment subject to review may apply the most severe penalty under Spanish law.

Homicide and murder are two crimes that share the same outcome: the death of a person caused by another. But they are not the same. The key difference lies in the presence of aggravating factors such as premeditation, cruelty, or financial motivation. These circumstances elevate a homicide to murder, leading to significantly harsher penalties.

If you are accused of one of these crimes, or if you need legal advice to press charges for one, it is essential to have a specialized criminal defense lawyer. At Nieto Enríquez Abogados Penalistas, criminal lawyers in Barcelona and Madrid, we offer expert, solid, and personalized legal defense in crimes against life.