capital crimes
Most serious felonies
Capital crimes are offenses punishable by death—murder, treason, espionage, and in some jurisdictions, aggravated rape or drug trafficking.
The term comes from the Latin word for head, referring to execution by beheading.
The defendant faced capital charges for the double homicide.
Where capital punishment has been abolished, the phrase persists for the most serious criminal offenses.
Deliberate unlawful killing
- homicideCausing another's death
- treasonBetraying one's nation
- espionageCovert intelligence gathering
- terrorismIntimidation through targeted violence
assassination · genocide · mass murder · serial killing · aggravated murder · felony murder · regicide · matricide
Judicial examination of claims
- prosecutionPursuing legal charges
- defendantParty facing charges
- indictmentFormal charge from jury
- arraignmentCharge-reading court session
plea · verdict · conviction · acquittal · evidence · testimony · jury · judge
Housing for condemned prisoners
- prisonConfinement for offenders
- penitentiaryFacility for convicted criminals
- correctional facilityInstitution housing convicted offenders
- solitary confinementIsolated imprisonment in cell
maximum security · condemned · inmate · warden · last meal · final appeal · execution chamber · death watch
Odiously, shockingly evil
- atrociousAppallingly, shockingly wicked
- unforgivableCannot be pardoned
- evilProfound moral wickedness
- guiltMoral self-reproach
culpability · atrocity · depravity · malevolence · wickedness · villainy · monstrous · barbaric
murder
Deliberate unlawful killing
terrorism · assassination · genocide · mass murder · serial killing · aggravated murder · felony murder · regicide · matricide · patricide
trial
Judicial examination of claims
- prosecutionPursuing legal charges
- defendantParty facing charges
- indictmentFormal charge from jury
arraignment · plea · verdict · conviction · acquittal · evidence · testimony · jury · judge · attorney
death row
Housing for condemned prisoners
- prisonConfinement for offenders
- penitentiaryFacility for convicted criminals
- correctional facilityInstitution housing convicted offenders
solitary confinement · maximum security · condemned · inmate · warden · last meal · final appeal · execution chamber · death watch · stay of execution
heinous
Odiously, shockingly evil
- atrociousAppallingly, shockingly wicked
- unforgivableCannot be pardoned
- evilProfound moral wickedness
guilt · culpability · atrocity · depravity · malevolence · wickedness · villainy · monstrous · barbaric · inhuman
- executionexecution, lethal injection, firing squad, gas chamber, electric chair
- penal historyprison, prisons, gaols, jails, penitentiaries
- Roman LawRoman law, Corpus Juris Civilis, Justinian Code, Twelve Tables, Digest
- capital punishmentdeath penalty, execution, death row, death sentence, lethal injection
- Jewish sinsidolatry, adultery, incest, blasphemy, idol worship
- Biblical lawsTen Commandments, dietary laws, sabbath laws, kosher laws, clean animals
capital crimesmisdemeanors
Minor legal violations
petty offenses · violations · traffic violations · minor infractions · minor offenses
capital crimesvenial sins
Minor moral offenses
peccadilloes · white lies · youthful indiscretions · good deeds
capital, crime, capitals, crimes, capitalism, capitalist, capitalize, capitalization, decapitate