Contract killing
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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.[2]
A contract killer is colloquially known as a hitman.[3]
Statistics
[edit]Contract killings generally make up a small percentage of murders. For example, they accounted for about 6% of all murders in Scotland from 1993 to 2002.[4]
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 period.[5]
Contract killers may share similarities with serial killers, but are not classified as such because of killing objectives, such as detached financial and emotional incentives.[6][7][8] Nevertheless, there are occasionally individuals that are labelled as both contract killers and serial killers.[8][9][10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Frank Shanty; Patit Paban Mishra (2008). Organized Crime: From Trafficking to Terrorism. ABC-CLIO. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-57607-337-7.
- ^ Roddy, Ariel L.; Holt, Thomas J. (2022). "An Assessment of Hitmen and Contracted Violence Providers Operating Online". Deviant Behavior. 43 (2): 139–151. doi:10.1080/01639625.2020.1787763.
- ^ "Hit man Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary".
- ^ "Homicide in Scotland, 2002". Government of Scotland.
- ^ "Lovers top contract killing hit list". CNN. February 5, 2004.
- ^ 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.
