thrill kill

English

(idiomatic) An act of murder motivated solely by the murderer's desire to have a very exciting experience.
- 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:
  "It was a thrill kill. Robbery was an afterthought. This is one of the most senseless murders we've had down there in years."
- 2012 April 12, “Supreme Court Hears Appeal of Colin Koehler's Life Sentence”, in WABI TV, retrieved 17 May 2013:
  "[T]his essentially was a killing for no reason, a thrill kill. . . ," said Attorney Donald Macomber.
(attributive, usually hyphenated) Of, pertaining to, or being such an act of murder.
- 2007 September 23, David Bowman, “Torchlit Crit”, in The New York Times Book Review‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 3 October 2023:
  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.”