Say I hire someone to kill my wife, but my wife gets the better of him and kills him in self-defense.

Am I guilty of

1. Attempted murder
2. Murder (presumably second-degree)
3. Felony murder (with the murder conspiracy as the predicate felony)

Yes, this is the plot of Dial M For Murder and yes, this question got me thinking.

I was reading the New York State statutes closely and it wasn’t clear to me. They don’t list murder itself as a predicate felony — I assume because accidentally knocking off some random bystander definitely still counts as a regular murder — but the felony-murder rule explicitly excludes co-participants, which feels fair. Is there any case law?

Say I hire someone to kill my wife, but my wife gets the better of him and kills him in self-defense.

I am guilty of at least attempted murder. Could I also be guilty of

1. Murder (presumably second-degree)
2. Felony murder (with the murder conspiracy as the predicate felony)

Yes, this is the plot of Dial M For Murder and yes, this question got me thinking.

I was reading the New York State statutes closely and it wasn’t clear to me. They don’t list murder itself as a predicate felony — I assume because accidentally knocking off some random bystander definitely still counts as a regular murder — but the felony-murder rule explicitly excludes co-participants, which feels fair. I don’t know if this is universal.

The provision in the second-degree statutes includes “third persons”, but does not explicitly say whether a participant would be counted as a third-person or not.

Is there any case law?