quadruple homicide
US descriptive term for an incident in which four people are killed — not a charge
Quadruple homicide is an American, non-statutory term for an incident in which four people have been killed. The term originates in US crime journalism and law enforcement and has no direct equivalent in Danish criminal legislation. It is purely descriptive and says something only about the number of victims, not about the perpetrator's motive, the method used, or the precise legal classification of the offence.
In US federal law, homicide is governed by 18 U.S.C. § 1111, which defines murder as "the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought". There is no separate provision for quadruple homicide in the U.S. Code; in an actual case, the charges will typically be first- or second-degree murder for each individual victim, depending on the specific circumstances.
The term is used consistently in US crime journalism and by law enforcement bodies such as the FBI and local prosecutors when four killings are linked to one incident or one perpetrator. It therefore appears in police reports, charging documents and media coverage as a practical collective label, but it is not in itself a punishable offence with an associated sentencing range.
In the cases Krimidex covers under this entry — including the Eric Hanson case in Illinois, the Idaho student murders in 2022, and the Yogurt Shop murders in Austin in 1991 — quadruple homicide is used in exactly this descriptive sense: four victims in one connected case. The label makes it easier to communicate the scale of a case without prejudging the criminal classification, which is determined by the courts in the specific charges brought.
