From: sheriffcoltrane23x@gmail.com   
      
   Contract killing   
   From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   
      
      
      
   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.   
      
   Throughout history, contract killing has been associated with organized crime   
   and with vendettas. For example, in recent United States history, 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   
   be directly involved in the killing. This makes it more difficult to connect   
   said party with the murder and decreases the likelihood of establishing guilt   
   for the committed    
   murder, because the hiring party did not commit the murder; they only enabled   
   it to happen. It is also often used by parties who do not have the ability to   
   carry the killing themselves, such as a spouse contracting the murder of their   
   partner.[1]   
      
   Contents   
      
   1	Legal issues   
   2	Statistics   
   3	Notable cases   
   3.1	Hitmen   
   3.2	Victims   
   3.3	Employers   
   4	In fiction   
   5	See also   
   6	References   
   7	External links   
   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. Thus, if a hitman   
   takes the money but    
   then fails or refuses to perform, the customer 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.   
      
   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 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   
      
   Hitmen   
      
      
   Mad Dog Coll leaving homicide court surrounded by police officers, 1931   
   Glennon Engleman, American dentist who moonlighted as a hitman   
   Christopher Dale Flannery, reputed Australian hitman   
   Giuseppe Greco, one of the most prolific Sicilian Mafia killers.   
   Igor the Assassin, ex-KGB operative turned hitman who is suspected of having   
   killed over 40 targets internationally   
   Charles Harrelson, American hitman, father of actor Woody Harrelson   
   Richard Kuklinski, American contract killer, linked to the murders of over 33   
   men and rumored to have murdered over 250 men   
   Marinko Magda, Serbian hitman convicted for 11 murders, including a Hungarian   
   family   
   Alexander Solonik, Russian hitman who killed more than 30 Russian mafia   
   bosses, and who was known for carrying a firearm in each hand   
   Benjamin Siegel, a Jewish hitman who headed the Bugs and Meyer Mob and headed   
   and was a hitman for Murder, Inc.. Siegel was also the Italian mob's main   
   hitman during Prohibition.   
   Vincent Coll, an Irish-American hitman who worked for Dutch Schultz and Owney   
   Madden.   
   Tony "Sick" Doles, American hitman who is suspected of 6 murders. After his   
   incarceration in California, He founded a murder for hire group called "The   
   Death Squad" with at least 8 contract killings for known prison gangs and   
   mobsters.   
   Victims   
      
   Li Fuguo, a Tang Dynasty Eunuch killed by a hitman hired by Emperor Tang   
   Daizong.   
   Shiori Ino, a 21-year-old University student killed by hitman Yoshifumi   
   Kubota, who served 18 years in prison for the killing. He was paid by her   
   ex-boyfriend and his brother; the case gained some notoriety in Japan.   
   Grady Stiles, freak show performer whose family hired a hitman to kill him   
   because of his abusiveness.   
   Ji Yunqing, a Chinese Shanghai Triad boss affiliated with Wang Jingwei's   
   puppet regime in the late 1930s murdered by BIS hitman Zhan Seng.   
   Harry Greenberg, a Mafia associate of Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky,   
   and Siegel. He was killed by Siegel, Whitey Krakower, Albert Tannenbaum, and   
   Frankie Carbo in 1939.   
   Joe Masseria, was a Castellmammarese Mafia boss that was murdered by Siegel,   
   Vito Genovese, and Lepke Buchalter in 1931.   
   Salvatore Maranzano, was a Castellammarese Mafia boss and rival to Masseria in   
   the Castellammarese War and was killed by Siegel and several other men in 1931.   
   Benjamin Siegel, Las Vegas mob boss and Flamingo Hotel owner, killed by   
   unknown assailants in 1947.   
   Employers   
      
   Nicole Doucet Ryan attempted to hire an undercover Royal Canadian Mounted   
   Police officer to kill her husband. After ruling she could not use the defense   
   of duress, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered she not be retried.[4]   
   Silas Jayne, Chicago-area stable owner, was convicted in 1973 of hiring hitmen   
   to murder his half-brother George.[5]   
   Mike Danton, former NHL player, hired an undercover federal agent to kill his   
   sports agent.   
   Italian crime boss John Gotti hired hitmen to murder Paul Castellano outside   
   of Sparks Steak House; the murder was carried out in December of 1985.[6]   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)