There is only one reason for which one should get off on a charge of homicide: in defense of their life or the life of another. Carry a weapon of any sort with you and, well, as Chekhov said, "If you hang a gun on the wall in the first act you must use it by the third." You expect that you will need to use it, therefore you are responsible for any use of it by yourself or by another.

Many murders are done in the "heat of passion"; many are also planned. Poisoning, for example, isn't usually something that's a spur-of-the-moment crime. Neither is a good arson. If you kill someone with a knife or gun you must acquire a knife or a gun -- which indicates planning.

Why do we pity the poor who Madoff ripped off and not the rich? Didn't both groups put their trust in the man and he failed both? Wasn't he just as cruel to a wealthy investor as to the poor widow? Because a wealthy person can perhaps better withstand the loss in no way lessens what Madoff did to both.

And don't forget that the poor widow was looking to make money just as much as the wealthy were.

He knew what he was doing, just as the killer knows what he is doing when he buys a butcher knife.