[pbear8]

Just curious, is regular old murder treated the same way?

Regular old murder is a sin, a very serious sin. It is treated in regular confession if one is in prison, if not, one must take responsibility (turn oneself in) before absolution can be given.

[miss marmelstein]

I thought a murderer who confesses to a priest is forgiven first then he must turn himself in. If he doesn’t, he’s just doubled his sin. There’s a Hitchcock movie about this.

[Patriotic1]

I've seen another poster give the statement that you must turn yourself in to receive absolution for murder. I don't recall seeing that anywhere. In fact, a Catholic Answers quick question disputes that. While they are not the final authority, they are quite orthodox and I tend to trust them.

http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/can-absolution-be-withheld-from-a-murderer-until-he-agrees-to-give-himself-up-to-auth