# Absolute best and worst US states to commit a cold-blooded murder in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413 "2013-02-26T04:23:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/1 "2013-02-26T04:23:08Z")
Did a quick search and didn’t see any other related threads, so here goes. Say you have your heart set on murdering someone. You’re going to do it but you don’t particularly care who you kill. Let’s say that you’re even planning on turning yourself in right afterwards and confessing to the crime. Taking into consideration maximum and minimum penalties, prison systems, chances of parole, and any other factors you may want to consider, what would be the absolute best state and the absolute worst state to commit your murder in? Best meaning the state where you’ll spend the least amount of time in prison, or have the best stay in prison, or whatever you want it to mean, really. Worst, presumably, would be a state that has capital punishment and uses it regularly (probably Texas, eh?). Note: This is purely hypothetical and NOT a needs answer fast! I am not encouraging ANYONE to commit murder, nor am I planning on any such thing! [I ran this by a mod via PM and got permission to post this before posting it] ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/2 "2013-02-26T04:25:33Z")
Are you white or black? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/3 "2013-02-26T04:29:45Z")
Make any assumptions you like. I personally am white, but if you’d like to answer in the case of a black murderer, feel free. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/4 "2013-02-26T04:41:45Z")
Good question - are you basically going for getting the experience of killing someone? Cause if you are gong to actually admit to premeditated murder - I think it is going to be a tough ride. If you want to claim self defense, get into a bar fight - or something like that… Looks like you might not have to go far… > **[List of punishments for murder in the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_punishments_for_murder_in_the_United_States)** > > Murder, as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent (or malice aforethought), and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide (such as manslaughter). As the loss of a human being inflicts an enormous amount of grief for individuals close to the victim, as well as the fact that the commission of a murder permanently deprives the victim of their existence, most societies have considered it a very serio... Texas seems like you can get as little as five years. But I don’t think a Texas prison would be that great. Also you could get the death penalty 🙂 I wouldn’t want to be black and charged with murder anywhere where you’d have a problem voting without ID. You also have the whole prison gang situation to deal with - so I’d want to pick a state where that wasn’t as prevalent - which unfortunately (or I guess fortunately) I don’t know that much about. ---
**Author:** ![whc.03grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/5 "2013-02-26T04:59:51Z")
Idaho, but only a remote sliver of it: [The perfect place for the perfect crime?](http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/the-perfect-place-for-the-perfect-crime/article_fcc6ddc2-b5f5-541b-a65f-a8fb00317047.html) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/6 "2013-02-26T05:09:48Z")
My only source for this is a TV movie, but didn’t Ted Bundy once ask a lawyer where a murderer would have the best chance of being executed in the shortest amount of time? The answer he got was “Florida”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/7 "2013-02-26T05:52:48Z")
If it weren’t for the confession part of the hypothetical, the death penalty would work in your favor, not against you. Once someone is found guilty and executed for your crime, the case would be closed, never to be re-opened, so you’d just have to lay low and wait a couple of years for that to happen and then you’d be scot-free. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/8 "2013-02-26T06:55:16Z")
I’ll toss out California for best and Texas for worst, in general. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/9 "2013-02-26T06:56:23Z")
A judge in North Carolina ruled: “A woman can murder her husband in Tennessee in cold blood before a dozen witnesses, and yet she cannot be punished or even tried for that murder.” _(Explanation: A woman in North Carolina fires a bullet from a rifle over the state line into Tennessee and kills her husband. The woman never comes over into Tennessee.)_ ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/10 "2013-02-26T07:28:23Z")
Maybe it has changed but a life sentence in Texas use to be 12.5 years hard time on good behaviour. I think the conversion of time served for a life sentence might be the best place to look. I was once incarcerated with a man sentenced for death in California before the repeal of the death sentence once it was repealed he was let out a year or so later served about 7 years. Might wanna look for a state that might drop the death sentence and get it in trial hoping for a repeal. It really mixes things up as there is no way to serve the sentence given in trial. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/11 "2013-02-26T11:11:20Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Worst, presumably, would be a state that has capital punishment and uses it regularly (probably Texas, eh?). Interesting fact, the place where you are most likely to get sentenced to death is actually Delaware.Texas has a larger number of executions, but that’s with a much larger population. Delaware has far fewer murders, but a larger percentage of them result in a death penalty. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/12 "2013-02-26T11:44:49Z")
What about the US Territories? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/13 "2013-02-26T12:24:26Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Let’s say that you’re even planning on turning yourself in right afterwards and confessing to the crime. The OP, to me, becomes more interesting if the murderer attempts to avoid discovery. Then you can also look at different state’s likelyhood of arrest and enter that into the equation. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Milton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6bbea6/32.png) [@Mr.Milton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Milton)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/14 "2013-02-26T14:04:14Z")
I’m not sure if this enters into the OP’s original equation or merely complicates it further, but there is probably a big difference in the jurisdictions within a state. It has to do with both the competence of the local police and the numbers of murders per capita and/or per investigator in that jurisdiction. For instance, I once heard that at one point in time, only one in three murders in Baltimore (MD) ended up being prosecuted. Under then-mayor Martin O’Malley, they went through police comissioners at a very rapid pace, and one would infer that the department lacked effective leadership. And at the same time, they had a violent crime rate that was awful as well. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/15 "2013-02-26T14:24:31Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > My only source for this is a TV movie, but didn’t Ted Bundy once ask a lawyer where a murderer would have the best chance of being executed in the shortest amount of time? The answer he got was “Florida”. As I pointed out in [another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15945576&postcount=81), that would have been really bad advice: > [@Death Penalty](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-penalty/648062/81): > > > [@](#): > > > > Is any one here Bundy knowledgeable? In the movie The Deliberate Stranger, he inquires as to what state is the most likely to execute a murderer. The answer was Florida. Bundy went there and was ultimately fried. If that was accurate it’s one example of something the opposite of deterrence. > > I don’t know if the quote is real or not, but it’s highly unlikely. Bundy began killing outside Florida, at a time when the death penalty [had been ruled unconstitutional](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furman_v._Georgia). He also briefly accepted and then turned down a plea bargain that would have resulted in a 75 year sentence, so it doesn’t appear his plan was to have himself executed. > > Beyond that, Florida is certainly not the best state to go to be executed. Texas has executed four times as many prisoners since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, as have a couple of other states. In terms of “efficiency” - the ratio of executions to current death row inmates - we’d be near last (having the second largest number of current death row inmates). Virginia appears to be the “most efficient” DP state. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/16 "2013-02-26T15:19:39Z")
Best state to commit cold blooded murder in? State of grace. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/17 "2013-02-26T16:14:44Z")
Texas would be among the worst for capital murder as the penalties are either death or life without parole, and unlike some states there is a very good chance you will be executed before you die of natural causes. However, not all murders will qualify under the capital murder statute - there have to be certain other factors in place, e.g. murder of a peace officer, murder during the commission or attempted commission of certain other felonies, murder of a child under 6, etc. Non-capital murder carries the same range of punishment as all other first degree felonies: either probation or 5 years to life in prison (enhancable to 25 to life if the person has priors), and even with a life sentence for murder the offender will be parole eligible in 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/18 "2013-02-26T17:33:23Z")
Worth noting: Texas DOES have the death penalty, but it DOESN’T offer a sentence of life without parole. So, while a killer here risks death, he ALSO has a better chance of getting out of prison in 15-20 years than some murderers in states WITHOUT the death penalty. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/19 "2013-02-26T17:46:01Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Worth noting: Texas DOES have the death penalty, but it DOESN’T offer a sentence of life without parole. > > So, while a killer here risks death, he ALSO has a better chance of getting out of prison in 15-20 years than some murderers in states WITHOUT the death penalty. It would be worth noting if it were true, I guess. 😕 > [@](#): > > Sec. 1. If a defendant is found guilty in a capital felony case in which the state does not seek the death penalty, the judge shall sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole. > > Tex. Crim. Proc. Code Ann. art. 37.071 (West) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413/20 "2013-02-26T17:54:21Z")
In astorian’s defense, that was true until fairly recently - until 2005 Texas was the only death penalty state that didn’t have a life without parole option for capital murder, so any offender who didn’t get the death penlaty could have conceivably paroled out someday, which probably contributed to the number of death penalties juries handed out. The option of LWOP was opposed by many prosecutor’s offices, but when the Harris County DA’s office finally dropped its opposition the legislature finally added it to the statute. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absolute-best-and-worst-us-states-to-commit-a-cold-blooded-murder-in/651413.md?page=2)