thrill kill

plural thrill kills · alternative thrill killing

1. idiomaticAn act of murder motivated solely by the murderer's desire to have a very exciting experience.

   "[T]his essentially was a killing for no reason, a thrill kill. . . ," said Attorney Donald Macomber.

   2012 April 12, “Supreme Court Hears Appeal of Colin Koehler's Life Sentence”, in WABI TV, retrieved 17 May 2013

   1 more example

   "It was a thrill kill. Robbery was an afterthought. This is one of the most senseless murders we've had down there in years."

   1988 March 9, Sheridan R. Hansen, “Police arrest 2 Utah Count teenagers for questioning in Las Vegas shooting”, in Deseret News, retrieved 17 May 2013, page B3

2. attributiveusually hyphenatedOf, pertaining to, or being such an act of murder.

   We all know that plenty of kids took to Route 66 after reading “On the Road,” but few juveniles committed thrill-kill murders after paging through “Crime and Punishment.”

   2007 September 23, David Bowman, “Torchlit Crit”, in The New York Times, →ISSN