I can't tell what you are thinking, but "simply searching for a killer is not a crime" is a false statement. There exist no law that says "searching for a ki

I can't tell what you are thinking, but "simply searching for a killer is not a crime" is a false statement. There exist no law that says "searching for a killer is not a crime". Now, there exist no law that says "searching for a killer is a crime" either, but this is up to judge/jury and in large part your luck. Judge or jury can't tell what you had in your mind. The prosecutor will lay their case and if they are convincing enough, especially to the jury, you may go to prison just based on "simple searching for a killer". The law does not require any more additional proof for you to be convicted, as long as prosecutor can convince judge and/or jury that you in fact wanted to go through with your plan. Certainly, people went to prison for much less than that. So, yes, you can in fact go to prison simply for searching for a killer if you were also unlucky.