The death penalty is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes. The use of capital punishment developed from the beginning of time and has developed greatly since then. It has evolved from a town-wide hanging to what is now usually a lethal injection. Murder, the usual reason to enforce capital punishment, is one of the most serious crimes that can be committed, and the only way it can be taken seriously is with an equal penalty. Some may argue substituting the death penalty for life in prison without parole is a better idea. However, it is incomprehensible how these people can ignore the numerous times, such as the cases of Dawud Mu'Min and Ted Bundy, where murders escape prison and continue to go on terrorizing killing sprees. The only way to be safe from these murders is capital punishment.