Idaho Code
Idaho Code

Idaho Code § 18-4001 (2026)

Murder defined. 

✓ current as of May 2026
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Murder defined. 

Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being including, but not limited to, a human embryo or fetus, with malice aforethought or the intentional application of torture to a human being, which results in the death of a human being. Torture is the intentional infliction of extreme and prolonged pain with the intent to cause suffering. It shall also be torture to inflict on a human being extreme and prolonged acts of brutality irrespective of proof of intent to cause suffering. The death of a human being caused by such torture is murder irrespective of proof of specific intent to kill; torture causing death shall be deemed the equivalent of intent to kill.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 252 cases (33 in the last 5 years), 1953–2026 · leading case: State v. Stuart, 715 P.2d 833 (Idaho 1986).
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State v. Stuart, 715 P.2d 833 (Idaho 1986). · cites it 36× “I.C. § 18-4001 defines murder and includes a death caused by the intentional application of torture.”
Stuart v. State, 801 P.2d 1216 (Idaho 1990). · cites it 16× “This instruction is patterned after I.C. § 18-4001, the statutory definition of murder.”
State v. Severson, 215 P.3d 414 (Idaho 2009). · cites it 6× “See I.C. §§ 18-4001 to-4003. Additionally, the State was required to prove the corpus delicti of the crime.”
State v. Garcia, 462 P.3d 1125 (Idaho 2020). · cites it 4× “Idaho Code section 18-4001 defines murder as “the unlawful killing of a human being[.”
State v. Pizzuto, 810 P.2d 680 (Idaho 1991). · cites it 8× “In the instant case, the criminal information charged Pizzuto with two counts of first degree premeditated murder, in violation of I.C. §§ 18-4001 and 18-4003(a), two counts of first degree felony murder in violation of I.”
State v. Tribe, 852 P.2d 87 (Idaho 1993). · cites it 10× “5 Idaho Code § 18-4001 also provides that, irrespective of proof of intent to cause suffering, the infliction of extreme and prolonged acts of brutality is torture, and torture causing death shall be deemed the equivalent of intent to kill.”
Sheahan v. State, 190 P.3d 920 (Idaho Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 2× “§ 18-4002: Such malice may be express or implied. It is express when there is manifested a deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of a fellow creature.”
State v. Reid, 253 P.3d 754 (Idaho Ct. App. 2011). · cites it 6× “Reid appeals his judgment of conviction rendered upon a jury verdict for aiding and abetting in two first degree murders, Idaho Code §§ 18-4001 , 18-4003(a), and 18-204.”
Fenstermaker v. State, 912 P.2d 653 (Idaho Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 16× “Idaho Code § 18-4001 defines the crime of murder as the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought or by the intentional application of torture to a human being, which results in the death of a human being.”
State v. Lankford, 781 P.2d 197 (Idaho 1989). · cites it 4× “Idaho Code § 18-4001 (1987) provides in part: 18-4001.”
Sivak v. State, 731 P.2d 192 (Idaho 1986). · cites it 4× “§ 18-6501, as charged in Count I, and was the underlying felony under the felony murder statute, I.C. § 18-4001, -4003(d), as charged in Count III.”
State v. Sivak, 674 P.2d 396 (Idaho 1983). · cites it 4× “Sivak is accused by this information of the crime of Count 1, robbery, felony, Idaho Code 18-6501; Count 2, murder in the first degree, felony, Idaho Code 18-4001, 03(A); Count 3, murder in the first degree, felony, Idaho Code 18-4001, 03(D); and Count 4, possession of a firearm…”
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— Idaho Code § 18-4001(02) — 1 case
State v. Hansen, 815 P.2d 484 (Idaho Ct. App. 1991).
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