Free Police Report Analysis Essay Sample

The important features of the report are as follows. Lois Murphy was found dead by an apparent homicide. No one could reach her for three days, when she was found by her brother, James Murphy, who went to investigate. After investigating the scene it was found that Lois Murphy had blunt wound trauma around the head and face. She was killed by a gunshot to the chest. The main suspect was William Tanner who may have been motivated by debt for drugs.
More information is necessary. I would want to know more about James Murphy, her brother and why it took him so long to find her dead. I want to know what James Murphy was doing on the day of the homicide and what alibies he had. Additionally I want to know what William Turner was doing. More information on the drugs and the connection Lois Murphy had with the drugs would help this case. Also, more information on the weapon, caliber, and ballistics information regarding the bullet or bullets.
There is a key difference in killing someone in self-defense and then committing homicide. Every human has an inherent right to self-defense. If someone is threatening to take away that right, then killing is an acceptable form of preserving that right. Homicide is killing when someone may not be threatening to harm another. Homicide is illegal whereas killing in self-defense might not be.
A utilitarian stance would look at this case with an objective eye. Utilitarianism attempts to maximize total benefit while minimizing the negative. Strictly speaking, a utilitarian might say that the homicide was ethical because it removed a person that did not pay her debts. This person, was a negative entity because she did not maximize the potential of the world. She did not pay her debts, and was a drain to society. So by eliminating the negative, the homicide was ethical. This does not take into account that drugs could potentially be a negative in society. If they were, then removing the drug user would be ethical as well.

Works Cited

Question 1. Man's last end. (n.d.). Retrieved February 12, 2015, from http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2001.htm