Is it "Murder" or not?

What is the difference between a "rural obsecure murder" and the "Basketball player murder"? The basketball player has killed another person point blank with a gun. He confessed to doing it and told authorities where the body was. The other side is, he is (groveling as he describes the event) "So sorry that he took another life and I don't know how I will live with myself". Oops, I forgot. He has lawyer(s) to get it turned into assault with a deadly weapon with 8 years probabtion, a book deal and mini-series option. The rural obsecure murder gets lethal injection after their public defender fails on their 3 appeal for clemency and/or retrial. Todays society rule: You do the crime, you probably won't do time (with enough money to get on the nightly news). An "Eye for an eye" is no longer even an option in today's society. 40%