Jump to content

Contract killing: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Jdonnis (talk | contribs)
100 edits
mNo edit summary
Fix markup.
 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Form of murder}}
:<span class="dablink">''For other uses, see [[{{PAGENAME}} (disambiguation)]].''</span>
{{Redirect|Hit lady|the 1974 television film|Hit Lady}}
{{Redirect|Hitman|other uses|Hitman (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Sicarios|other uses|Sicario (disambiguation){{!}}Sicario}}
{{example farm|date=October 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{homicide}}
'''Contract killing''' (also known as '''murder-for-hire''') is a form of [[murder]] or [[assassination]] in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people.<ref name="ShantyMishra2008">{{cite book|author1=Frank Shanty|author2=Patit Paban Mishra|title=Organized Crime: From Trafficking to Terrorism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-L8B8ydtHZ4C&pg=PA210|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-337-7|page=210}}</ref> It involves an [[illegal agreement]] which includes some form of compensation, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be a person, group, or organization. Contract killing has been associated with [[organized crime]], [[Conspiracy theory|government conspiracies]], [[dictatorship]]s, and [[feud|vendetta]]s. For example, in the United States, the [[American Mafia|Italian-]] and [[Jewish-American organized crime]] gang [[Murder, Inc.]] committed hundreds of murders on behalf of the [[National Crime Syndicate]] during the 1930s and 1940s.


Contract killing provides the hiring party with the advantage of not having to carry out the actual killing, making it more difficult for [[law enforcement]] to connect the hirer with the murder. The likelihood that 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. Contract killers may exhibit [[serial killer]] traits, but are generally not classified as such because of third-party killing objectives and detached financial and emotional incentives.<ref name="Madjd-Sadjadi2013">{{cite book|author=Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi|title=The Economics of Crime|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dd7XAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT162|year=2013|publisher=Business Expert Press|isbn=978-1-60649-583-4|page=162}}</ref>{{sfn|Holmes|Holmes|2009|p=7}}<ref name="WilsonYardley2015">{{cite book|author1=David Wilson|author2=Elizabeth Yardley|author3=Adam Lynes|title=Serial Killers and the Phenomenon of Serial Murder: A Student Textbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iXg7CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA43|year=2015|publisher=Waterside Press - Drew University|isbn=978-1-909976-21-4|page=43}}</ref> Nevertheless, there are occasionally individuals that are labeled as both contract killers and serial killers.<ref name="WilsonYardley2015" /><ref>{{cite book|author1=R.J. Parker|author2=Scott Bonn|title=Blood Money: The Method and Madness of Assassins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ib4pDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA9|year=2017|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-987902-34-1|pages=9–10}}</ref><ref name="HolmesHolmes2009">{{cite book|first1=Ronald M. |last1=Holmes|first2=Stephen T. |last2=Holmes|title=Serial Murder|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ol24tui7vo8C&pg=PA140|year=2009|publisher=SAGE|isbn=978-1-4129-7442-4|page=140}}</ref>
A '''hitman''' (alternately, '''hit man''') is a hired [[assassin]], usually in the employ of [[organized crime]]. Hitmen are often hired for an extended period of time, rather than per job. In all countries with functioning [[judiciary|judicial systems]], a [[contract]] with a hit man is unenforceable at [[law]] (in the sense that the [[customer]] cannot sue for [[specific performance]] and the hit man cannot sue for his pay).


A contract killer is colloquially known as a '''hitman'''.
The word 'Hitman' is also the title of a succesful series of [[Computer Games]] by [[IO Interactive]].


==See also==
==Statistics==
A study by the [[Australian Institute of Criminology]] of 162 contract murders and attempted contract murders in Australia between 1989 and 2002 indicated that the most common reason for murder-for-hire was [[life insurance|insurance policy]] payouts. The study also found that payments varied from $5,000 to $30,000 per killing, with an average of $15,000, and that the most commonly used weapons were [[firearms]]. Contract killings accounted for 2% of murders in Australia during that time period.<ref name="lovers">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/02/05/australia.killings.offbeat.reut/index.html|title=Lovers top contract killing hit list |date=February 5, 2004|publisher=CNN}}</ref>
*[[Assassin]]
Contract killings generally make up a small percentage of murders. For example, they accounted for about 5% of all murders in [[Crime in Scotland|Scotland]] from 1993 to 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2003/11/18570/29572|title=Homicide in Scotland, 2002|publisher=Government of Scotland}}</ref>
[[File:Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891) - The Hired Assassins - P327 - The Wallace Collection.jpg|thumb|''The Hired Assassins'' ([[Ernest Meissonier]], 1852)]]

==Notable persons==
{{Unsourcedsection|date=December 2021}}

===Perpetrators===
[[File:Vincent Coll leaving court NYWTS.jpg|thumb|[[Mad Dog Coll]] leaving court surrounded by police officers, 1931]]

* [[Mad Dog Coll|Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll]], an [[Irish American|Irish-American]] hitman from [[Gweedore]], [[County Donegal]], who worked for [[Salvatore Maranzano]], [[Dutch Schultz]], and [[Owney Madden]].
* [[Elmer "Trigger" Burke]], notorious hitman and supporting player in the [[Great Brink's Robbery]]
* Maia "Mainha" Cunha, a notorious [[Brazilians|Brazilian]] hitman; he is considered the biggest hitman in [[Northeast Brazil]] and his targets were usually northeastern politicians, mostly mayors of cities in the interior of northeastern Brazil.<ref>[https://g1.globo.com/ce/ceara/noticia/2021/01/15/assassinato-do-pistoleiro-cearense-mainha-completa-10-anos-e-segue-sem-condenacao.ghtml G1 (Ceará): Assassinato do pistoleiro cearense Mainha completa 10 anos e segue sem condenação]</ref><ref>[https://aventurasnahistoria.uol.com.br/noticias/reportagem/confusao-e-morte-mainha-o-maior-justiceiro-do-nordeste.phtml Aventuras na História: CONFUSÃO E MORTE: MAINHA, O MAIOR JUSTICEIRO DO NORDESTE]</ref>
* [[Glennon Engleman]], American dentist who moonlighted as a hitman.
* [[Ray Ferritto]], Italian-American hitman and soldier for the [[Cleveland crime family|Cleveland]] and [[Los Angeles crime family|Los Angeles crime families]], best known for the October 1977 [[car bombing]] murder of [[Irish mob]] boss [[Danny Greene]] in [[Lyndhurst, Ohio]]; later Ferritto became a government witness and testified against the mob.
* [[Christopher Dale Flannery]], reputed Australian hitman.
* [[El Chino Ántrax]], a notorious Mexican [[drug lord]] and hitman, he was a high-ranking member of [[Sinaloa Cartel]] and the leader of [[Los Antrax]], a feared hitman squad and an armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel.
* [[Giuseppe Greco]], a Sicilian hitman who killed at least 58 people during the [[Second Mafia War]].
* [[Charles Harrelson]], American hitman, father of actor [[Woody Harrelson]].
* [[Patrick Holland (criminal)|Patrick Holland]], [[Irish people|Irish]] alleged hitman for the [[Dublin]]-based [[drug trafficking]] ring led by [[John Gilligan (criminal)|John Gilligan]] and [[John Traynor (criminal)|John Traynor]]. Accused by [[Garda Siochana|Irish law enforcement]] of having been responsible for the 1996 murder of [[investigative journalist]] [[Veronica Guerin]].
* [[Richard Kuklinski]], an alleged hitman for the [[DeCavalcante crime family]] and the [[Five Families]] who claimed responsibility for more than 200 murders.
* [[Marinko Magda]], Serbian hitman convicted for 11 murders.
* [[Tommy Pitera|Tommy "Karate" Pitera]],{{refn|His nickname, "Karate" is due to the fact that he is a martial artist and also to the fact that he is a [[Black belt (martial arts)|black belt]] in [[Goju-ryu Karate]].|group=Note}} an Italian-American hitman and [[soldato|soldier]] in the [[Bonanno crime family]]. He was known for having serial killer-like characteristics, and was a skilled [[martial artist]].
* Alexander "Sasha-Soldier" Pustovalov, [[Russian mafia]] hitman and [[Orekhovskaya gang]] soldier. Pustovalov has 22 confirmed kills.
* [[Abe Reles]], hitman and initial leader of [[Murder, Inc.]] along with [[Martin Goldstein]].
* {{ill|Julio Santana (criminal)|pt|Julio Santana|lt=Julio Santana}}, a notorious Brazilian hitman; he is considered by the Brazilian and international media as "the deadliest hitman in history", for having killed 492 people officially (more than 500 unofficially),{{refn|According to Julio Santana himself, he stopped counting the number of targets he killed after the 492nd victim, implying that the actual number of victims he killed would be (unofficially) 500 or more.|group=Note}} considered the highest number of fatal victims killed by a single hitman.<ref>[https://aventurasnahistoria.uol.com.br/noticias/vitrine/julio-santana-o-brasileiro-que-matou-492-pessoas-escapou-da-policia.phtml Aventuras na História: JÚLIO SANTANA: O BRASILEIRO QUE MATOU 492 PESSOAS E ESCAPOU DA POLÍCIA]</ref>
* [[Frank Sheeran|Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran]], a union official and mob hitman, who was associated with [[Russell Bufalino]]. Sheeran claimed to have murdered former [[Teamsters]] president [[Jimmy Hoffa]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://amp-clickondetroit-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.clickondetroit.com/news/interview-charles-brandt-author-i-heard-you-paint-houses?usqp=mq331AQA&amp_js_v=0.1|title=Interview: Charles Brandt, author 'I Heard You Paint Houses'|website=amp-clickondetroit-com.cdn.ampproject.org|access-date=August 2, 2019|archive-date=October 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018102526/https://amp-clickondetroit-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.clickondetroit.com/news/interview-charles-brandt-author-i-heard-you-paint-houses?usqp=mq331AQA&amp_js_v=0.1|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Bugsy Siegel|Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel]], a Jewish hitman who headed the [[Bugs and Meyer Mob]] and was a hitman for [[Murder, Inc.]]; Siegel was also the [[American Mafia|Italian mob]]'s main hitman during [[Prohibition]].
* [[Alexander Solonik]], Russian hitman, known for carrying a firearm in each hand. Alexander Solonik was a main killer in the Kurganskaya criminal group.
* [[Harry Strauss]], hitman for [[Murder, Inc.]] he is possibly the most prolific hitman to have ever lived, committing 100 (possibly 500) murders during his career.
* [[Jhon Jairo Velásquez|Jhon Jairo "Popeye" Velásquez]], Colombian hitman who was part of the [[Medellín Cartel]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.elmundo.es/america/2013/09/16/colombia/1379354709.html|title=El ex jefe de sicarios de Pablo Escobar seguirá en prisión al menos hasta 2016|trans-title=Ex-chief of Pablo Escobar's hitmen to be in prison until 2016|access-date= November 7, 2021 |work=[[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]|date= September 16, 2013|location=[[Bogotá]]|language=es}}</ref>
* [[Ilpo Larha]], Finnish criminal who also became Finland's first known hitman in 1992
* Robert Young, {{a.k.a.}} Willie Sanchez, an escaped convict and contract killer employed by an [[African-American organized crime]] gang headed by [[Nicky Barnes]].<ref name="auto">{{cite news|date=April 26, 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=8 May 2019|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/nyregion/prince-charming-hit-man.html|title=Her 'Prince Charming' Turned Out to Be a Crazed Hit Man on the Run|author=Wilson, Michael}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Hired Killer Sentenced|work= The Evening Press |location=Binghamton, NY|date= November 11, 1980|page= 7-A|publisher=The New York Times Company}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title = 'Hitwoman' charged in 6 slayings|agency=UPI|work= Pacific Stars and Stripes |location=Japan|date= February 16, 1980|page= 7}}</ref>
* [[Z (underaged killer)|Z]], a 15-year-old minor who was convicted of murdering an insurance agent under the orders of her husband in Singapore in 2001. He was detained at [[The President's Pleasure (Singapore)|the President's Pleasure]] for 17 years.
* [[Kenneth Eugene Smith]], [[Billy Gray Williams]] and [[John Forrest Parker]], the three hitmen who murdered a pastor's wife on the orders of the pastor (who committed suicide) in 1988. Parker was executed in 2010, while Williams was given a life sentence and later died in prison in 2020, and Smith was executed in 2024.

=== Victims ===
* [[Griselda Blanco]], Colombian drug lord of the [[Medellín Cartel]], gunned down in [[Medellín]] on September 3, 2012.
* [[Harry Greenberg]], a [[American Mafia|Mafia]] associate of [[Charlie Luciano|Charles "Lucky" Luciano]], [[Meyer Lansky]], and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. He was killed by Siegel, [[Whitey Krakower]], [[Albert Tannenbaum]], and [[Frankie Carbo]] in 1939.
* [[Danny Hogan]], an [[Irish mob]] boss based in the [[Twin Cities]], whose 1928 assassination, allegedly by disgruntled associate [[Harry Sawyer (mobster)|Harry Sawyer]] is believed to be the first murder by [[car bombing]] in the history of American organized crime.
* [[Annie Leong]], an insurance agent in Singapore who was murdered by a minor hired by her husband, who was subsequently sentenced to death and later executed.
* [[Walter Liggett]], an [[investigative journalist]] specializing in exposes of collusion between [[Depression era]] [[organized crime]] in the [[Twin Cities]] and senior politicians from [[Minnesota]]'s ruling [[Farmer-Labor Party]]. Assassinated before his wife and children in December 1935, allegedly by [[Kid Cann]], an enforcer for a [[Minneapolis]]-based [[Jewish-American organized crime]] gang called the "AZ Syndicate".
* [[Li Fuguo]], a [[Tang dynasty]] eunuch killed by a hitman hired by Emperor [[Tang Daizong]].
* [[Salvatore Maranzano]], a Castellammarese Mafia boss and rival to Masseria in the [[Castellammarese War]] who was killed by Siegel and several other men in 1931.
* [[Dan Markel]], an attorney and legal academic murdered in [[Tallahassee, Florida]], in 2014.
* [[Joe Masseria]], a [[Sicilian Mafia|Mafia]] [[crime boss|boss]] murdered by Siegel, [[Vito Genovese]], [[Albert Anastasia]], and [[Joe Adonis]] in 1931.
* Harry Millman, gang leader and former [[The Purple Gang|Purple Gang]] member, killed by [[Harry Strauss]] and [[Harry Maione]].
* {{ill|Nativo da Natividade de Oliveira|pt|lt=Nativo da Natividade}}, a well-known [[Trade union|union leader]] from the [[Center-West Region, Brazil|Center-West of Brazil]] (who was originally a rural worker), he was one of the 492 people who were killed by the notorious Brazilian hitman {{ill|Julio Santana (criminal)|pt|Julio Santana|lt=Julio Santana}}.
* [[Dion O'Banion]], [[Irish mob]] boss of [[Chicago]]'s [[North Side Gang]], whose 1924 assassination by [[Frankie Yale]], [[John Scalise]], and Albert Anselmi touched off almost a decade of gangland warfare.
* {{ill|Maria Lúcia Petit|pt}}, a [[teacher]], [[Far-left politics|far-left militant]], and [[Guerrilla|communist guerrilla]], was a member of the [[Communist Party of Brazil]] ([[PCdoB]]) and the [[Guerrilha do Araguaia]]. She was one of the 492 people who were killed by the notorious Brazilian hitman {{ill|Julio Santana (criminal)|pt|Julio Santana|lt=Julio Santana}} (as well as Nativo da Natividade).
* [[Shiori Ino]], a 21-year-old university student, who was stabbed to death in 1999. Hitman had been hired by Ino's abusive ex-boyfriend (who committed suicide before he could be apprehended) and the ex-boyfriend's brother, who was sentenced to life imprisonment.
* [[Alexander Solonik]], was strangled to death by Russian hitman and ex-Marine Alexander Pustovalov inside his [[Athens]] villa in 1997.
* [[Bugsy Siegel|Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel]], [[Las Vegas]]-[[Las Vegas crime family|based]] [[Jewish American organized crime]] figure, killed by unknown assailants in 1947.
* [[Barry Seal]], American airline pilot and undercover CIA informer, who became a major drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel.
* [[Murder of Sheila Bellush|Sheila Bellush]], mother of six who was murdered by a hitman hired by her ex-husband, a millionaire businessman Allen Blackthorne.<ref name="bellush">{{cite news|date=November 24, 2014|access-date=19 May 2023|url=https://sentinelcolorado.com/obituaries/ex-millionaire-who-plotted-ex-wifes-murder-dies/ |title=Ex-millionaire who plotted ex-wife’s murder dies|newspaper=Sentinel Colorado|url-status= |work= |location= |archive-url= |archive-date= }}</ref>
* [[Murder of Brian Stidham|Brian Stidham]], a pediatric ophthalmologist who was killed in a murder-for-hire plot by his colleague, Bradley Schwartz.
* [[Grady Stiles]], a [[freak show]] performer whose family hired a hitman to kill due to his abusiveness.
* [[John H. Wood Jr.]], an American Federal judge known as "Maximum John" for giving severe prison sentences for drug offenses, murdered by [[Charles Harrelson]] at the behest of [[Lebanese-American]] [[drug lord]] [[Jamiel Chagra]].

=== Employers ===
*[[Dana Ewell]], convicted of hiring his college roommate to murder Ewell's mother, father, and sister for the US$8,000,000 estate.
* [[John Gotti]], [[Italians|Italian]]-[[Americans|American]] [[crime boss]], hired hitmen to murder [[Paul Castellano]] outside of [[Sparks Steak House]] in December 1985.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/mob-boss-john-gotti-dead|title=Mob Boss John Gotti Is Dead|website=The Smoking Gun|date=June 10, 2002|access-date=May 10, 2015}}</ref>
* [[Murder of Farah Fratta|Robert Fratta]], ex-police officer, hired two men to kill his wife.
* [[Lawrence Horn]], record producer whose hiring of a hitman led to the case ''Rice v. [[Paladin Press]]''.
* [[Mike Danton]], former NHL player, hired an undercover federal agent to kill his sports agent.
* [[Richard Glossip]], a former motel manager, was convicted of ordering the 1997 killing of his boss, motel owner Barry Van Treese.
*[[Silas Jayne]], [[Chicago]]-area stable owner, was convicted in 1973 of hiring hitmen to murder his half-brother George.<ref name=SJSI>{{cite magazine |last=Boyle|first=Robert H.|title=End Of A Bloody Bad Show|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1087415/index.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922040332/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1087415/index.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 22, 2010|access-date=March 21, 2013|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=June 4, 1973}}</ref>
* [[Tim Lambesis]], heavy metal vocalist who attempted to hire an undercover police officer to murder his wife.<ref>{{cite news |magazine=Rolling Stone|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tim-lambesis-sentenced-to-six-years-in-jail-for-murder-for-hire-plot-20140516|title=Tim Lambesis Sentenced to Six Years in Jail for Murder-for-Hire Plot|access-date=February 21, 2016}}</ref>
* [[2007 hitman case|Charlotte Karin Lindström]], Swedish waitress/model who attempted to hire a hitman to kill persons testifying against her boyfriend in a drug trial in Australia.
* [[Charlie Luciano|Charles "Lucky" Luciano]], [[American Mafia]] and [[Luciano crime family]] [[crime boss|boss]]. Ordered Siegel, Tannenbaum, Genovese, Buchalter, Carbo, and Krakower to murder [[Mustache Pete]]s Joe Masseria and Sal Maranzano in 1931, and [[informant|stool pigeon]] [[Harry Greenberg]] in 1939.
* [[Joe Exotic|Joseph Maldonado-Passage]] (better known by his stage name [[Joe Exotic]]), an American zoo owner who attempted to hire an undercover FBI agent to murder a rival, the CEO of [[Big Cat Rescue]] (with whom he had a long-running and public feud).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brulliard |first1=Karin |title=Zookeeper who killed tigers and tried to have rival murdered is sentenced to 22 years in prison |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/01/22/joe-exotic-zookeeper-sentencing/ |access-date=April 16, 2020 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 22, 2020}}</ref>
* [[List of Snapped episodes#Season 24 (2018–2019)|Diana Lovejoy]], a technical writer, and her gun instructor Weldon McDavid were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder of Lovejoy's husband in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pelisek|first=Christine|date=November 22, 2017|title=How Divorce Led to Diana Lovejoy's Murder-for-Hire Plot|url=https://people.com/crime/diana-lovejoy-carlsbad-murder-for-hire-divorce-plot/|access-date=2020-07-27|website=PEOPLE.com|language=EN}}</ref>
* [[Killing of Bich Pan|Jennifer Pan]], a [[Vietnamese-Canadian]] woman who hired three men to stage a [[home invasion]] in order to assassinate her parents in retaliation for decades of [[tiger parenting]] in 2010.
* [[R v Ryan|Nicole Doucet Ryan]] attempted to hire an undercover [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] officer to kill her husband. After ruling that she could not use the defense of [[duress]], the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] ordered she could not be retried.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/ex-husband-in-hit-man-case-says-courts-were-wrong-1.1401909 |title=Ex-husband in hit-man case says courts were wrong - Nova Scotia| work=CBC News}}</ref>
*[[Pamela Smart]] hired teenage lover Billy Flynn and his friends to murder her husband.
*[[Thomas Bartlett Whitaker]], an American man who hired people to attack his parents and brother in a home invasion in 2003.
* [[Flordelis dos Santos de Souza]], former Brazilian congresswoman, convicted of the murder of her husband, pastor Anderson do Carmo.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wionews.com/world/brazil-former-congresswoman-sentenced-to-50-years-in-prison-for-husbands-murder-534051|title=Brazil: Former congresswoman sentenced to 50 years in prison for husband's murder|website=Wion|date=Nov 14, 2022|access-date=May 10, 2023}}</ref>
* [[Anthony Ler]], a Singaporean who hired a 15-year-old student in 2001 to murder his wife with promises of money and sex, as well as manipulation and death threats.
* [[María del Pilar Pérez]], a Chilean architect who hired a hitman to kill her husband (who had come out as gay), his boyfriend, and her niece's boyfriend.

== See also ==
<!-- PLEASE RESPECT ALPHABETICAL ORDER -->
*[[Assassination]]
*[[Assassination market]]
*[[Assassination market]]
*[[Bounty hunter]]
*[[Cleaner (crime)]]
*''[[Hotline Miami]]''
*[[List of contract killers and hitmen]]
*[[Mercenary]]
*[[Murder, Inc.]]
*''[[Nothing Personal (TV series)|Nothing Personal]]''
*[[Private military company]]
*[[RentAHitman.com]]
*[[Wetwork]]


==Notes==
{{crime-stub}}
{{reflist|group=Note}}
{{job-stub}}


== References ==
[[Category:Illegal occupations]]
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Organized crime terminology]]


==External links==
[[de:Killer]]
*[https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2013/january/murder-for-hire/murder-for-hire Murder-for-Hire: Web Hits of a Deadly Kind] ([[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]])
[[fr:Tueur à gages]]

[[ja:&#27578;&#12375;&#23627;]]

[[sv:Yrkesmördare]]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Contract Killing}}
[[Category:Assassins|*]]
[[Category:Speech crimes]]
[[Category:Killings by type]]
[[Category:Contract killers| ]]
[[Category:Illegal occupations]]
[[Category:Temporary employment]]
[[Category:Gangland warfare tactics]]
[[Category:Organized crime activity]]

Latest revision as of 14:37, 1 January 2025

"Hit lady" redirects here. For the 1974 television film, see Hit Lady.
"Hitman" redirects here. For other uses, see Hitman (disambiguation).
"Sicarios" redirects here. For other uses, see Sicario.

Part of a series on
Homicide
Murder

Note: Varies by jurisdiction

Manslaughter
Non-criminal homicide

Note: Varies by jurisdiction

Family
Other

Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people.[1] It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be a person, group, or organization. Contract killing has been associated with organized crime, government conspiracies, dictatorships, and vendettas. For example, in the United States, the Italian- and Jewish-American organized crime gang Murder, Inc. committed hundreds of murders on behalf of the National Crime Syndicate during the 1930s and 1940s.

Contract killing provides the hiring party with the advantage of not having to carry out the actual killing, making it more difficult for law enforcement to connect the hirer with the murder. The likelihood that 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. Contract killers may exhibit serial killer traits, but are generally not classified as such because of third-party killing objectives and detached financial and emotional incentives.[2][3][4] Nevertheless, there are occasionally individuals that are labeled as both contract killers and serial killers.[4][5][6]

A contract killer is colloquially known as a hitman.

Statistics

[edit]

A study by the Australian Institute of Criminology of 162 contract murders and attempted contract murders in Australia between 1989 and 2002 indicated that the most common reason for murder-for-hire was insurance policy payouts. The study also found that payments varied from $5,000 to $30,000 per killing, with an average of $15,000, and that the most commonly used weapons were firearms. Contract killings accounted for 2% of murders in Australia during that time period.[7] Contract killings generally make up a small percentage of murders. For example, they accounted for about 5% of all murders in Scotland from 1993 to 2002.[8]

The Hired Assassins (Ernest Meissonier, 1852)

Notable persons

[edit]

Perpetrators

[edit]
Mad Dog Coll leaving court surrounded by police officers, 1931

Victims

[edit]

Employers

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ His nickname, "Karate" is due to the fact that he is a martial artist and also to the fact that he is a black belt in Goju-ryu Karate.
  2. ^ According to Julio Santana himself, he stopped counting the number of targets he killed after the 492nd victim, implying that the actual number of victims he killed would be (unofficially) 500 or more.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Frank Shanty; Patit Paban Mishra (2008). Organized Crime: From Trafficking to Terrorism. ABC-CLIO. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-57607-337-7.
  2. ^ Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi (2013). The Economics of Crime. Business Expert Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-60649-583-4.
  3. ^ Holmes & Holmes 2009, p. 7.
  4. ^ a b David Wilson; Elizabeth Yardley; Adam Lynes (2015). Serial Killers and the Phenomenon of Serial Murder: A Student Textbook. Waterside Press - Drew University. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-909976-21-4.
  5. ^ R.J. Parker; Scott Bonn (2017). Blood Money: The Method and Madness of Assassins. ABC-CLIO. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-1-987902-34-1.
  6. ^ Holmes, Ronald M.; Holmes, Stephen T. (2009). Serial Murder. SAGE. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-4129-7442-4.
  7. ^ "Lovers top contract killing hit list". CNN. February 5, 2004.
  8. ^ "Homicide in Scotland, 2002". Government of Scotland.
  9. ^ G1 (Ceará): Assassinato do pistoleiro cearense Mainha completa 10 anos e segue sem condenação
  10. ^ Aventuras na História: CONFUSÃO E MORTE: MAINHA, O MAIOR JUSTICEIRO DO NORDESTE
  11. ^ Aventuras na História: JÚLIO SANTANA: O BRASILEIRO QUE MATOU 492 PESSOAS E ESCAPOU DA POLÍCIA
  12. ^ "Interview: Charles Brandt, author 'I Heard You Paint Houses'". amp-clickondetroit-com.cdn.ampproject.org. Archived from the original on October 18, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  13. ^ "El ex jefe de sicarios de Pablo Escobar seguirá en prisión al menos hasta 2016" [Ex-chief of Pablo Escobar's hitmen to be in prison until 2016]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Bogotá. September 16, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  14. ^ Wilson, Michael (April 26, 2019). "Her 'Prince Charming' Turned Out to Be a Crazed Hit Man on the Run". The New York Times. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  15. ^ "Hired Killer Sentenced". The Evening Press. Binghamton, NY: The New York Times Company. November 11, 1980. p. 7-A.
  16. ^ "'Hitwoman' charged in 6 slayings". Pacific Stars and Stripes. Japan. UPI. February 16, 1980. p. 7.
  17. ^ "Ex-millionaire who plotted ex-wife's murder dies". Sentinel Colorado. November 24, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  18. ^ "Mob Boss John Gotti Is Dead". The Smoking Gun. June 10, 2002. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  19. ^ Boyle, Robert H. (June 4, 1973). "End Of A Bloody Bad Show". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on September 22, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  20. ^ "Tim Lambesis Sentenced to Six Years in Jail for Murder-for-Hire Plot". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  21. ^ Brulliard, Karin (January 22, 2020). "Zookeeper who killed tigers and tried to have rival murdered is sentenced to 22 years in prison". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  22. ^ Pelisek, Christine (November 22, 2017). "How Divorce Led to Diana Lovejoy's Murder-for-Hire Plot". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  23. ^ "Ex-husband in hit-man case says courts were wrong - Nova Scotia". CBC News.
  24. ^ "Brazil: Former congresswoman sentenced to 50 years in prison for husband's murder". Wion. November 14, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
[edit]


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Contract_killing&oldid=1266632111"