Can "his murder" mean two different things?
- The murder of a male person (him)
- A man's crime, e.g His murder of someone
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3Yes. Basically, you can ask him. If he answers, it's the second case.– oerkelensCommented Apr 10, 2014 at 12:01
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1Yes, in theory at least, but it would usually mean the former.– user230Commented Apr 10, 2014 at 12:03
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1Unless it's murders, then it is usually the latter - except for cats maybe.– oerkelensCommented Apr 10, 2014 at 12:06
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+1 to @oerkelens comment. It took me a while until the penny dropped, but after it did I have to say it's genius remmark!– NicoCommented Apr 11, 2014 at 8:52
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2 Answers
Just to add to the answers you already got, here are a few real examples linked by this ngram.
Being the victim
"Now the hour had come, and an unstoppable chain of events had begun that would end in His murder." (The murder of Jesus)
"It was only after his murder that I gradually learned about the circumstances surrounding his death." (Human Rights in Northern Ireland)
"One gal gets life for his murder" (Magazine Weekly World News)
Being the murderer
"The defection of Bogdan Stashinsky in 1961 was prompted not by his revulsion of his murder of the Ukrainian politician, whom he killed with an ingenious cyanide gas gun in October 1959, but [...]" (The A to Z of Sexspionage)
"The murderer is presented as having committed his murder in the necessary pursuit of his duty." (Psychoanalysis, Literature and War: Papers 1972-1995)
CREDITS
I would like to credit DamkerngT for the idea of using the verb "commit" to provide enough context to interpret "his murder" as "his murder of a victim".
Context, context, context!
Simply leaving his murder will be something like aiming in the dark! But still, let me try.
What are you talking about? He confessed, really? "Yes, he did. He confessed for his murder and is now repenting his awful act." - here, he murdered someone.
If it was in the context of a trial, the phrase could be used that way...
Oscar Pistorius was the target of relentless and combative questioning Wednesday as the prosecutor in his murder trial tried to... - here it means he murdered someone and its trial going on.
On the other hand,
That desire ended in his murder, following an attack that was without mercy - his murder was barbaric. - here, he was murdered
answered Apr 10, 2014 at 12:27
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It was not I who downvoted you, but perhaps it was due to the rather fractured English in "Yes, he did. He did for his murder and now repenting his awful act." I would have put "Yes, he did. He confessed to his murder and is now repenting his awful act." Also, in this sentence "his" could easily refer to the victim rather than the murderer: "He confessed to her murder" makes this obvious. Normally, we would qualify "his murder" in some way if he is the murderer: "his murder conviction", "his second murder", etc.– BobRodesCommented Apr 10, 2014 at 13:42
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I agree with your plea for more context. In fact, "his murder" might not refer to anyone's death at all! Consider the panning critic: "It was hard to sit through his murder of Rachmaninov's Fughetta in F" (Meaning 2), or: "It was fun watching Borg play tennis in his prime, but his murder in Monte Carlo was hard to watch." (Meaning 3).– J.R. ♦Commented Apr 10, 2014 at 14:31