Under modern law, Laban may have been involved with what we would call an attempted homicide by ordering his guards to kill them. But under ancient Hebrew law, there was no such thing as an attempted crime. In Laban’s world, the only crimes a person could be convicted and punished for was a completed crime. To determine Laban’s culpability, the elders or judges would look to familiar facts and precedents. Here they would find the case of Joseph and his brothers. Initially, Joseph’s brothers threw him in a pit with the intent to kill him. A caravan came by and so they changed plans to make money by selling Joseph. They put blood on Joseph’s garment and returned home to tell their father, Jacob, that his favorite son, Joseph, was dead. Under modern law, these brothers have committed two crimes—first an attempted murder and second a kidnapping or selling of their brother. However, the Bible does not refer to Joseph’s brothers as murderers for their attempted murder. So, lawyers of Laban’s time would not have punished Laban since there was no actual murder.
Similarly, in 1 Nephi 7, when Lehi’s sons returned to Jerusalem to get Ishmael and his daughters, Laman and Lemuel, bound their brother Nephi with intent to kill. They left Nephi to die but Nephi was able to break the bands and get away. That also would appear to be an attempted homicide. Later, in 1 Nephi 17, they will again attempt to kill Nephi and also their father.
But attempted crimes were not the same as completed crimes in Laban’s world. Even though Laban sent his servants to kill Nephi and his brothers, they failed and no murder was committed. Laban did not do anything that would be seriously considered criminal in his world. Still, Laban was not a good guy. He broke a commandment by being envious. He coveted. The last of the Ten Commandments says, "Thou shalt not covet."
But thus, the brothers were thus forced to abandon all their property and run for their lives (3:26). The servants of Laban, one of whom may have been Zoram (who will soon figure again in the story), chased the brothers out of the city, where they hid themselves "in the cavity of a rock" (3:27).