* According to Goodman, the first list below was the opinion of Harvard professor of legal medicine George Burgess Magrath (1870-1938), in that order. The second list was given by Erik Hawkins and Jair Hilburn in an August 2019 article for Oxygen Dot Com.
In 15 MOTIVES FOR MURDER: A GUIDE FOR WRITERS, the American author Bryn Donovan expands these lists considerably, but her categories are largely sub-categories of the three or four already given. For example, she lists three types of revenge murder. Her category number 15 is eliminating a witness to a crime, which does not appear to be covered by any listed below. Terrorist murders are committed for all manner of motives, though they might be fitted under the rubric of loathing. It might also be argued that killing for kicks is another.
1. robbery
2. jealousy
3. vengeance
1. love
2. lust
3. loathing
4. loot
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