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Podcast: Morbidology
Episode: 106: Sophie Elliott
Description: The provocation defence is an outdated and inappropriate defence which allows killers to claim that their victim had provoked them to commit murder. If successful in such a defence, a killer can be convicted of manslaughter as opposed to murder. Essentially, it rewards lack of self-control by enabling an intentional killing to be categorized as something other than murder. In New Zealand in 2008, a murder trial would cause moral outrage when a shameless killer would desperately attempt to besmirch his victim’s name with said defence. The killer’s actions in the aftermath of the murder would eventually lead to the...