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A contract killing (also contract murder or murder-for-hire) is a murder in which the killer is hired by another person to kill for material reward, usually money. A person who carries out a contract killing is sometimes known as a contract killer or hit man. In many countries with judicial systems, contract killings are examples of a situation in which contracts are unenforceable by law (in the sense that the customer cannot sue for specific performance and the contract killer cannot sue for his pay). Both a hit man and his customer can be found guilty of homicide. In some jurisdictions with capital punishment, a contract killing may be a special circumstance that allows for a murder to be tried as a capital crime. Contract killing appeals to criminals partially because it can be used to establish an "airtight" alibi for the person who takes out the contract - at the time of the killing, they can plan to be far away and in a place where many people will see them. At the same time, the person who actually commits the murder will have little or no direct connection to the victim, making it much more difficult for investigators to establish what happened. By contracting out a murder, a criminal can also avoid personally committing murder, which some may be unwilling or incapable of doing, especially if they had a close relationship with the victim. Contract killings are often associated with organized crime, primarily because career criminals are likely to know contract killers, and believe contracting a murder will lessen the likelihood of being caught. Depending on the region and era, contract killers have frequently been used to silence witnesses testifying against criminals or to eliminate rival criminals or politicians who refuse to take a bribe (plata o plomo - a Spanish phrase meaning literally "silver or lead" — "accept a bribe or face assassination"). Others contract a murder in an attempt to reap some kind of financial windfall - usually as a beneficiary of the victim's insurance policies, or as heir to their estate. However, the most common motive usually involves simply ending an intimate relationship, albeit for an array of reasons. Contract killers may make their crime an obvious murder, but may also try to make the death appear to be a suicide or even an accident, or may hide or destroy the body so that it is not clear to authorities that the victim is dead, only that they have disappeared. In the United States and other countries, law enforcement agents will sometimes pose as contract killers to arrest the people trying to hire them.
Statistics A study by the Australian Institute of Criminology of 162 attempted or actual contract murders in Australia from 1989 to 2002 showed that the most common reason for murder for hire was "in relation to the dissolution of an intimate relationship". The study also found that the average payment for a "hit" was A$12,700 and the most commonly used weapons were firearms. Contract killings accounted for 2% of murders in Australia during that time period. Contract killings 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. See also | ||||||||
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