Mr Heart Case

Imagine an elderly man inviting someone into his home to take care of him, but then his caretaker surprisingly creates a scheme that will get rid of him because of his eye. The old man trusted him with his life, and suddenly he takes it from him. The man I am describing is Mr. Heart, who is guilty of committing first degree murder. He was the victim’s caretaker for a long enough duration of time for them to develop a father-son relationship with one another, yet he killed him in the end. Members of the jury, after going over the evidence against Mr. Heart in the State of New Jersey vs. Mr. Heart case, it is as clear as day that he should be convicted of first degree murder, because the facts show proof of premeditation, deliberation, and malice.

To begin the prosecution, the crime that Mr. Heart committed was undeniably premeditated. He took time to plan out the entire murder in his head before his scheme commenced. He knew exactly what he was going to do to kill the victim successfully and as stealthily as possible. First of all, premeditation is the act of planning ahead of the actual murder. The time taken for premeditation does not need to be a long time, but just enough for the average sane person to realize that what they are doing is wrong (“First Degree Murder Overview”). One of the things he did that was premeditated was how he would hide the body after killing the victim. Mr. Heart went through many ideas of how he could hide the body without a trace. He also took precautions on concealing it so that he would not be a suspect in the murder. His testimony states, “If you still think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body” (Poe 3). Mr. Heart was very meticulous about the way he would accomplish his goal without ever being caught in the act. He clearly states that he was very careful in coming up with a plan that will surely work. In addition to that, Mr. Heart also premeditated the way he would furtively get into the victim’s chamber unnoticed. Premeditation is “When an individual contemplates, for any length of time, undertaking an activity and then subsequently takes the action” (“Premeditation”). The suspect is guilty of this because he purposely oiled the hinges of the victim’s room, and he did not oil any of the other door hinges in the house. This shows that he thought of ways to quietly get into the old man’s room, and he executed his plan as well. Furthermore, Mr. Heart was well aware of how he would kill the victim as quietly and as cleanly as possible so that it would be very hard to detect the murder. His testimony states, “In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done” (Poe 3). The suspect used the victim’s own mattress to suffocate him. He did this so that there would be no clean up and so that he wouldn’t have to worry about a loud noise coming from a certain weapon. Mr. Heart planned out the murder of the victim to the very last detail. He thought about everything and he did not miss a single step. Since Mr. Heart planned out the entire crime before actually doing it, he should be convicted for his actions.
In addition to Mr.

Heart premeditating the murder, he also deliberately committed the crime. Everything he did was for a purpose, and he did everything he could to get him to his goal. His testimony states, “Upon the eighth night I was more cautious in opening the door” (Poe 2). Mr. Heart stalked the victim for eight days straight until he murdered him on the eighth night. He tells us specifically in his testimony that he watched the old man as he slept so that he would know the right time to take action. He did all of this purposely so that his plan would work without any flaws. This also shows us that he has plenty of time to consider his actions after deciding to kill the man (“First Degree Murder Law and Legal Definition”). Furthermore, “A defendant deliberates by considering the act and its consequences (but not necessarily the punishment), and deciding to follow through with it” (Segars). Mr. Heart made sure he was extra nice to the old man a week before the act, so that he would not suspect that anything wrong was going to happen. He knew that tricking the victim was wrong, but he did it anyway because it benefitted him and got him one step closer to fully carrying out his nefarious plan. Equally important, he took an excessive amount of time to fit his head into the door when he was stalking the victim during the night. “And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it- oh so gently” (Poe 1). Mr. Heart not only stalked the old man every night for eight days, but he took an hour just to open the door. He did this solely because he did not want to startle the old man and ruin his plan that he’s worked so hard to carry out. Mr. Heart has done so much so that he could get away with murdering the victim. He cannot get away with all of the damage he has done by stalking the elderly man, being extra kind to him just so that he could take his life later, and taking his time to put his head in the doorway of the victim’s chamber as if it

was no big deal.
Another thought is Mr. Heart maliciously killed the victim. He wanted to kill the man and he did without a lawful reason to do so such as self defence. Instead he murdered the old man in cold blood without a second thought, or a good reason to do so. His testimony states, “I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of vulture- a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold” (Poe 1). He believed that the victim’s eye was evil and because of this, he could not stand it. Since the eye irked him so much, it compelled him to kill the victim. Even though he knew that it was not a valid reason, that did not stop him from doing so. Considering, “When applied to the crime of murder, malice is the mental condition that motivates one individual to take the life of another individual without just cause or provocation” (“Malice”). We can easily see that Mr. Heart is guilty of malice, because what motivates him to kill the victim is his eye. His testimony states, “but I found that the eye was always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye” (Poe 1). As you can tell, Mr. Heart did not mind the old man, in fact, he loved him as if he were his own father yet he took his life anyway. Because the eye annoyed him so much, he saw that killing the old man was the only way to get rid of the eye. During the time of the crime, he no longer cared for the man because he was only worried about his eye. All Mr. Heart cared about was getting the eye out of his life once and for all. His testimony states, “He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more” (Poe 3). Mr. Heart did not feel sad or guilty about what he had just done to the innocent old man that he used to care for. All he could think about was how he had just killed the victim and he would no longer have to worry about his eye, because he was now dead. He was proud that he had achieved his goal of never having to see the eye ever again. Mr. Heart should be arrested for for not having a real reason to kill the victim, and for being happy about killing the the elderly man.
In summation, Mr. Heart was the caretaker of an old man that he learned to love. This was until he decided to take the old man’s life because of his eye. He should be apprehended for committing First Degree Murder because he is guilty of planning the murder of the victim before he took action, committing the crime on purpose, and not caring about anything other than killing the victim for his eye. Mr. Heart premeditated the crime, he deliberately murdered the old man, and he did this maliciously. Take a good look at all of the evidence that’s been presented, and know that this man should go to jail for the terrible things he has done. He cannot be let go because then he will just continue to kill over and over again only because he doesn’t like someone’s characteristics. Vote that Mr. Heart should be convicted for committing the murder of the poor, vulnerable, and innocent old man. 
Works Cited
“First Degree Murder Law and Legal Definition.” US Legal, 2016, definitions.uslegal.com/f/first-degree-murder. Web. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
“First Degree Murder Overview.” FindLaw. Thomson Reuters, 2018, criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/first-degree-murder-overview.html. Web. Accessed 22 Apr. 2018.
“Malice.” West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2, The Gale Group, 2008, legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/malice. Web. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Poe, Edgar Allan. “The Tell-Tale Heart.” The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition, vol. 2. New York: P. F. Collier and Son. 1903. Print.
“Premeditation.” Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law School, www.law.cornell.edu/wex/premeditation. Web. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Segars, Leigh. “What is Premeditated and Deliberate Conduct?” Nolo. 2018, www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-premeditated-deliberate-conduct.html. Web. Accessed 13 Apr. 2018.
“The Tell-Tale Heart (BEST VERSION).” YouTube, uploaded by SalvadorUploader, 22 Oct. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe0WyjiW5Ps. Web. Accessed 19 Apr. 2018.