Crafting a compelling murder mystery requires a deep understanding of what drives individuals to commit murder. While the “whodunit” aspect often captures attention, the “whydunit” offers an equally rich vein for exploration. Murder motives reveal the darker facets of human behavior and provide the backbone for a memorable mystery narrative. This post analyzes four fundamental categories of murder motives – money, love, power, and fear.

The Core Motives Behind Murder

Money Crimes

The pursuit of wealth is a common driver of murder. These motives can manifest in various ways, often intertwining with greed or desperation:

• Inheritance:
  • Killing the benefactor to expedite the inheritance process.
  • Murdering someone to prevent them from changing a will.
  • Eliminating alternate heirs to secure sole access to the estate.
• Organized Crimes:
  • Killing to advance the goals of a criminal organization, such as maintaining control over a territory.
  • Acts of violence arising from internal disputes or fallouts among members of a criminal group.
• Professional Goals: Murders committed to advance one’s career, such as eliminating business competitors or uncooperative partners.
• Investment Crimes: Crimes aimed at securing financial assets or preventing their loss, such as protecting stock interests or life insurance payouts.
• McGuffin Crimes: Killings driven by the desire for a unique and valuable item, such as a rare artifact or a hidden treasure.

Love Crimes

Love and relationships often spark strong emotions that lead to murder. These motives frequently stem from obsession, jealousy, or heartbreak:

• Killing to Be Together: Removing an obstacle, such as a disapproving family member, to ensure a romantic union.
• Killing a Rival: Eliminating a competing suitor to secure a desired partner. For instance, a spurned admirer might kill someone courting the object of their affection.
• Frustrated Love: When unrequited feelings or rejection push someone to commit murder against the person they love or someone else perceived as the source of their misery.

Power Crimes

The drive for power can lead to murders across political, social, or familial contexts. Such crimes often highlight the perpetrator’s desire for control or influence:

• Killing for Political Power: Eliminating rivals to secure a position of influence, whether in government, an organization, or a community.
• Killing for Power Within the Family: Removing an individual who stands in the way of dominance within familial hierarchies, such as a sibling competing for favor or inheritance.

Fear Crimes

Murders driven by fear often reflect a killer’s instinct for self-preservation or a desperate need to protect themselves from exposure. This category encompasses the concept of delivery from fear:

• Killing to Remove a Physical Threat: Neutralizing a source of physical danger, such as an abusive partner or an enemy poised to strike.
• Killing the Victimizer: Eliminating someone who persistently victimizes or oppresses the perpetrator, whether socially, professionally, or personally.
• Killing a Potential Exposer: Silencing an individual who threatens to reveal damaging secrets, safeguarding the killer’s reputation or status.

Exploring Complexity Through Indirect Motives

Murder motives become even more intricate when they involve indirect benefits or two-stage plans. In these cases, the killer’s immediate action serves as a precursor to achieving their ultimate goal. Such layered strategies challenge investigators and enhance the depth of a mystery.

• Killing on Behalf of Another: The killer acts out of loyalty or devotion to someone else. For instance, a loyal retainer might eliminate a threat to their employer’s social standing or fortune.
• Killing to Trigger a Predictable Action or Effect of Death: The killer anticipates consequences of the victim’s death that will serve their larger goal.
  • Predictable Effects of Death: Legal documents such as wills are revealed, relatives gather for funerals, and possessions are redistributed. A killer might exploit these outcomes to gain access to the true victim or expose a secret through the reading of a will.
  • Predictable Effects of Arrest: When a patsy is framed, their arrest discredits them, disrupts their relationships, and leaves their home unguarded, creating opportunities for the real killer to act.
• Frame Murder: The killer deliberately frames another person for the crime, diverting suspicion while achieving their objective. For instance, framing a rival could ensure their social or professional downfall.
• Unpremeditated Murder: In some cases, the murder was not originally part of the plan but became necessary due to unforeseen circumstances. A thief interrupted during a robbery might kill a witness to preserve their identity, later returning to their original goal with added layers of complexity.

Inspiration in Crafting Whydunits

Understanding the primal drives of money, love, power, and fear allows RPG game masters to construct murder mysteries that resonate deeply. These motives, when applied with creativity and layered complexity, transform the mundane into the memorable. This approach draws inspiration from Jane Kalmes’ insightful 2021 YouTube video, which explored the core desires behind murder motives and their narrative potential. By focusing on the “whydunit,” mysteries can transcend the straightforward and deliver truly compelling stories.