A man hires someone to murders his wife, but she kills the attacker in self-defense. What crime has the husband committed?

Question

Just today I watched a movie. A husband wants his wife dead and hires a killer. She manages to kill her attacker in self defence but the police and a jury don’t believe her and she is convicted for murder. The husband knows she is innocent but keeps quiet. Eventually he is caught. What crimes has he committed? In the USA, or in other jurisdictions? Is it murder even though he didn’t kill anyone himself?

Answer 1

canada

He has committed attempted murder of his wife, via "counselling" (Criminal Code, s. 22):

Where a person counsels another person to be a party to an offence and that other person is afterwards a party to that offence, the person who counselled is a party to that offence ...

Answer 2

germany Anstiftung zum Versuchten Mord (of the wife)

Hiring a Killer is the textbook example of Anstiftung (Incitement) for Mord (murder). Since the would-be-killer did not succeed, it stayed at the Versuch (attempt), so it's Incitement for Attempted Murder.

• Incitement under StGB §26 says, that the inciter is to be punished as the actor would.
• Attempt under StGB §23 says, that the attempt is punished just like a successful crime.
• Mord (murder 1st degree) under StGB §211 says the mandatory punishment is a life sentence.

Thus, the Husband is facing a mandatory life sentence, as I see no factors to give the possible leniency under StGB §23.

Answer 3

The Hitchcock movie was set in London, but the remake was set in New York, so I will focus on that.

New York State Penal Code, Section 125.25: A person is guilty of murder in the second degree when [...with] intent to cause the death of another person, he causes the death of such person or of a third person

Clearly, that it was Tony (Steven in the remake) was trying to do.

New York State Penal Code, Section 110.05 makes attempting to commit a crime... a crime.

There is also Solicitation (Tony/Steven asked Charles/David to commit a crime) and Conspiracy (the two agreed to commit the crime and there was an overt act in furtherance of that crime), but I believe those charges would be subsumed by the Attempt charge, which as a Class B felony, could result in up to 25 years in prison.

Edit:

Someone does actually die during the crime, just not the intended victim. That might make Steven guilty of either the original murder (since there is a “or of a third person” clause) or of “felony murder” (a homicide during the course of another felony), but I don’t think so. New York Penal Law 125.25(3), which describes felony murder in detail, specifically excludes the death of another participant. It also, however, excludes murder as a predicate felony, presumably because it is included directly under the definition of murder. I believe that the death of a co-conspirator in a murder would not automatically be considered a murder, the way the death of a bystander would be, but I could be wrong.

Answer 4

In Belarus, he would have been slapped with 3 articles and his wife would have gone. For the husband, a contract killing and 139ch1 murder through Art. 14, 14 is not a completed action. In the СНГ, you can forget about such an article as self-defense.