Cite as: 507 U. S. 463 (1993)
Blackmun, J., dissenting
year alone, the label "cold-blooded" has been applied to a murder by an ex-spouse angry over visitation rights,4 a killing by a jealous lover,5 a revenge killing,6 an ex-spouse "full of hatred," 7 the close-range assassination of an enemy official by a foe in a bitter ethnic conflict,8 a murder prompted by humiliation and hatred,9 killings by fanatical cult members,10 a murderer who enjoyed killing,11 and, perhaps most appro-4 See Kuczka, Self-Defense Claimed in Murder Trial, Chicago Tribune, Feb. 3, 1993, p. 5 ("To prosecutors, Eric Moen is a cold-blooded killer who gunned down his wife's former boyfriend in a Streamwood restaurant parking [lot] during a quarrel over visitation rights to the ex-boyfriend's infant daughter").
5 See Caba, Friedman Prosecutor Rebuffed, Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 19, 1993, p. B3 ("The prosecution contends she killed Edwards in cold blood because he was leaving [her] to return to his wife in Texas").
6 See McMahon, Dad Does Everything Right, But Son Goes Wrong, Chicago Tribune, Mar. 7, 1993, p. 1 (youth who, according to charges, killed victim after saying "he was going to kill him in retaliation for something [the victim] had done" is, "the state reminds, a cold-blooded killer").
7 See Gorman, Millionaire Guilty of Killing Ex-Wife, Chicago Tribune, Feb. 3, 1993, p. 1 ("Assistant State's Atty. Robert Egan portrayed Davis as a 'manipulative,' cold-blooded killer . . . . Egan depicted Davis as a man so filled with hatred that he killed Diane Davis two weeks after an Illinois Appellate Court had ruled . . . that he must turn over $1.4 million of his inherited money to his former spouse").
8 See Burns, U. N. to Ask NATO to Airdrop Supplies for Bosnians, N. Y. Times, Jan. 12, 1993, p. A10 (shooting of Bosnian Deputy Prime Minister by Serbian soldier was described by State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher as "cold-blooded" murder).
9 See Man Gets Life For Double Murder, Toronto Star, Mar. 4, 1993, p. A12 (the prosecution "called it 'a cold-blooded killing' spurred by [the defendant's] 'humiliation and hate of these people,' with whom he had squabbled during the 1991 mayoralty campaign").
10 See McKay, Koresh "Smiled Defiantly" Before Ambush, Agent Says, Houston Chronicle, Mar. 5, 1993, p. A1 (" 'These people aren't religious. These people are cold-blooded killers who were shooting at us from every window in that place' ").
11 See Milling, Man Charged in 2 Slayings, Crime Spree, Houston Chronicle, Mar. 5, 1993, p. A23 (" 'I'd describe him as a psychopath who gets his gratification by hurting other people,' Carroll said. 'He's not your typical serial killer. He just likes to pull the trigger and watch people die.' . . . 'We knew this guy was a cold-blooded killer,' Carroll said").
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