Is "Murdered" the right word?
You wrote "..."Mr. KO" Letterlough was murdered last year."
If an intruder breaks into my house and I shoot him dead, have I murdered him? No. The word 'Murder' refers to a specific kind of killing of a person. For a killing to be 'Murder' there must be a lack of substantial justification (eg, self-defense or defense of another)on the shooter's part, as well as premeditation. By using the word 'murdered', you take a side. You imply that Letterlough was an innocent victim of a crime.
--- Do we know what happened in the Letterlough shooting well enough to make such a judgement? Is it appropriate to use the word 'murdered' when we don't have all the facts? I don't think so.
Before his ring career, Letterlough did 7 years for assault. His death resulted when he was shot in the back just after leaving a bar. What happened between Letterlough and the man who shot him is unknown (by me at least) but was almost certainly more complicated than an innocent Letterlough being shot by a stranger for no reason out of a clear blue sky.
--- Hypothetically, could Letterlough have said to the shooter "I'm going to go right now and beat your mother's head in."?
--Or could Letterlough have raped the shooter's sister that morning and the man have been driven to an insane rage by this?
-Since we don't know the shooter's motivation or the other circumstances that led up to the shooting, shouldn't we avoid wording in which he is implicitly found to be guilty of a premeditated and unjustifiable killing?
I don't know what the reason for the shooting was. Perhaps you do. But if your knowledge of the circumstances of the shooting are no more detailed than mine, then I think such implied judgements as the use of the word 'murdered' ought to be avoided in favor of terms which do not take sides. No one could dispute "Letterlough was shot in the back and killed" for instance.
regards,
persnickety diana |
