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.
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
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]
See also
- Assassination market
- Bounty hunter
- Cleaner (crime)
- List of contract killers and hitmen
- Mercenary
- Nothing Personal
- RentAHitman.com
- Wetwork
Notes
References
- ^ Frank Shanty; Patit Paban Mishra (2008). Organized Crime: From Trafficking to Terrorism. ABC-CLIO. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-57607-337-7.
- ^ Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi (2013). The Economics of Crime. Business Expert Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-60649-583-4.
- ^ Holmes & Holmes 2009, p. 7.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Holmes, Ronald M.; Holmes, Stephen T. (2009). Serial Murder. SAGE. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-4129-7442-4.
- ^ "Lovers top contract killing hit list". CNN. February 5, 2004.
- ^ "Homicide in Scotland, 2002". Government of Scotland.
