Question

One of the most difficult crimes to analyze is attempt. The key is often to determine if the defendant has gone beyond preparation to perpetration. Review the following fact pattern and determine whether you think the person has attempted murder.

Dave and his wife have a rocky relationship and are now sleeping in separate bedrooms. Dave hates his wife and wants to kill her and collect the big life insurance policy he has taken out on her life. Dave researches poison on the internet. He learns that one package of Ace Brand rat poison mixed in a cup of coffee will kill a person weighing 150 pounds or less. Dave’s wife weighs 125 pounds. Dave goes to the store and buys a package of Ace Brand rat poison. The next morning, Dave gets up and makes coffee and mixes the poison into a cup of coffee. He then takes that cup of coffee into his wife’s bedroom. However his wife had a early morning meeting and had already gone to work. Dave returns to the kitchen and pours out the coffee.

Explain whether you think Dave has attempted a murder. If you do not think so, what additional step or steps must he take to be convicted of attempting to murder of his wife?

Answer 1

Dave was definitely tried to kill his wife but the difference here is that no one knows about it except himself. Explicit ­­­­attempt murder in front of people doesn’t need any analysis because there will be lot of eye-witnesses. In this case no one knows until Dave’s wife is dead and there are no other evidences except the purchase of the Ace Brand rat poison. If Dave’s wife files a complaint, if she identifies Ace Brand rat poison at home, Dave will have to answer why he had purchased it and how he used it. But until his wife drinks the mix or complaints to the police mentioning a plot, it will remain a mystery.

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