Contract killing

"Hitman" redirects here. For other uses, see Hitman (disambiguation).
For the 2008 film, see Contract Killers.

Contract killing is a form of murder in which one party hires another party to kill a target individual or group of people. It involves an illegal agreement between two or more parties in which one party agrees to kill the target in exchange for some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be a person, group, or an organization. Contract killing has been associated with organized crime and with vendettas. In the United States, the gang Murder, Inc. committed hundreds of murders on behalf of the National Crime Syndicate.

Contract killing provides the hiring party with the advantage of not having to commit the actual killing, making it more difficult for law enforcement to connect said party with the murder. The likelihood the authorities will establish that party's guilt for the committed crime, especially due to lack of forensic evidence linked to the contracting party, makes the case more difficult to attribute to the hiring party.

It is also often used by individuals who do not have the fortitude to carry out the killing themselves, such as a spouse contracting the murder of their partner.[1]

Legal issues

In the United States, the United Kingdom, and many other countries, a contract to kill a person is void, meaning that it is not legally enforceable. Any contract to commit an indictable offense is not enforceable under contract law. Thus, if a "hitman" takes the money but then fails or refuses to perform, the customer (or hiring partner) cannot sue for specific performance or for damages for breach of contract. Conversely, if the hitman performs the killing as promised but the customer refuses to pay, the hitman cannot sue the customer for monetary damages. Furthermore, both the actual killer and the person who paid the killer can be found guilty of murder. Indeed, the acts of merely negotiating and paying for a contract killing (that is never actually carried out) are themselves punishable as attempted murder, as they constitute the "substantial step" towards a crime which are essential for imposing liability for an attempted crime. In some U.S. jurisdictions with capital punishment, a contract killing may be a special circumstance that allows for the contractor as well as the killer to receive the death penalty. Criminal-code statutes prohibiting "solicitation of murder" are also intended to curb contract killings.

Statistics

A study by the Australian Institute of Criminology of 162 attempted or actual contract murders in Australia between 1989 and 2002 indicated that the most common reason for murder-for-hire was insurance policies payouts. The study also found that the average payment for a "hit" was $15,000 with variation from $5,000 up to $30,000 and that the most commonly used weapons were firearms. Contract killings accounted for 2% of murders in Australia during that time period.[2] Contract killings also make up a relatively similar percentage of all killings elsewhere. For example, they made up about 5% of all murders in Scotland from 1993 to 2002.[3] According to America's Most Wanted, Walker County, Alabama is the #1 place in America to hire a hitman.

Notable cases

Perpetrators

Mad Dog Coll leaving homicide court surrounded by police officers, 1931

Victims

Employers

In fiction

Fictional cases of contract killing or "hitmen" are depicted in a range of popular fiction genres in the 20th and 21st century, including films, comic books and video games.

Well-known film depictions in crime films and action movies include:

Novels/Comic books: In Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider (character) saga, a Russian named Yassen Gregorovitch, who worked with Alex's father John as a contract killer for S.C.O.R.P.I.A.

"Offbeat" or humorous depictions of hitmen have also been done in film, such as:

Video games that depict contract killing include;

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Canadian Press (2013-01-23). "Ex-husband in hit-man case says courts were wrong - Nova Scotia". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  2. ↑ "CNN.com - Lovers top contract killing hit list - Feb. 5, 2004".
  3. ↑ "Homicide in Scotland, 2002".
  4. ↑ "Ex-husband in hit-man case says courts were wrong - Nova Scotia". CBC News.
  5. ↑ "Tim Lambesis Sentenced to Six Years in Jail for Murder-for-Hire Plot". Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Boyle, Robert H. (4 June 1973). "End Of A Bloody Bad Show". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "Mob Boss John Gotti Is Dead". The Smoking Gun. June 10, 2002. Retrieved May 10, 2015.

External links

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