“1st degree murder: A killing which is deliberate and premeditated (planned after lying in wait, by poison or as a part of a scheme) in which conjunction with felonies such as burglary, arson, or involving multiple deaths or certain weapons, particularly a gun.” (Black’s Law Dictionary) In the story Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, a man with an odd motive murders a man. Some believe the man was insane, but I know it was first degree murder.
The suspect decided to kill the old man and has a motive behind it. “I think it was his eye! Yes it was this!... whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold;… I made up my mind to take the life of the old man.”(78) “…for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye.” (80) The suspect made it very clear what his intentions were, and why. He isn’t a lunatic on a killing spree, but someone who despises something and wants it gone.
The anonymous murderer was aware of his actions, patient, and proud. “You should have seen how wisely I proceeded – with what caution – with what foresight – with what dissimulation I went to work!…the whole week before I killed him. I had made an opening sufficient for my head,… and then I thrust in my head…. I moved
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“First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.” (81) This is one claim as to why they believe he was insane. He simply did that because he wanted to easily dispose of the body and not be caught. If he was truly maniacal he would’ve mutilated the body for his own enjoyment. “I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this!…whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold; and so by degrees – very gradually –I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” (78) This piece of evidence is arguable to whether or not he is insane since he is murderous over something as simple as an eye, but not having a motive in the first place proves