This is tricky, in your example the correct sentence would be "He has been killed". Typically, "has" is used to refer to something in the present, "has" implies more urgency like the killing was very recent or just happened. "He WAS killed" is very matter of fact, only used when it has happened much before, usually when using "was" a date and time can also be specified. You will here "has been killed" in a lot of TV Dramas because it is more suspenseful, it implies that the killings are happening right now.
Hope this helped :)