ABSTRACT
Homicide is the most heinous and culpable of crimes. Or is it? Not every killer encounters punishment or even disapproval. Some killings are considered praiseworthy: acts of war, some acts of lethal law enforcement, even private acts of vengeance or defense of honor. There are any number of considerations that may be invoked as justification for homicide in one society or another, and many more that are recognized as extenuating circumstances. The killer may live on in his natal community, suffering neither ostracism nor reprisal; indeed he may gain the respect of his fellows by having killed. What then is culpability all about?
