hitmen
are real people being paid for violence
is
absolutely real it does happen i want to
go to her funeral and spit in the cancer
i will be happiest when this woman is
dead and buried and succeeded
on april 28 2021 24 year old scott quinn
burkett
allegedly sent 13 000 in bitcoin
across the dark web to a murder for
service
from his california home it seemed a
reasonable price
for a reliable hitman burkett had met a
woman online in october 2020
they'd been on a few dates when she'd
broken their brief romance off after his
sexually aggressive behavior when client
and assassin met
they discussed terms the cat wanted a
photo
of the woman's distinctive tattoo as
proof while the latter wanted an extra
thousand dollars
negotiations moved smoothly details
weren't that important as long as the
job got
done some hit men would provide
detailed information about the
activities they would perform
so whether you want someone to be
kidnapped whether you want their house
to be
burned to the ground whether you wanted
assault versus others that were just
tell me who you want me to kill and i'll
do it but the meat wasn't quite what it
seemed
in late may the cat was arrested at his
beverly hills home
the supposed hitman was an undercover
fbi agent who'd played their part to
perfection
if convicted on murder to higher charges
paquette faces up to 10
years in prison
[Music]
scholars have defined a hitman as an
individual
who accepts an order to kill another
human being
from someone who is not publicly
acknowledged
as a legitimate authority regarding
just killing for as long as money has
existed
there have been plenty of people willing
to kill for it
contract killing is one of the world's
oldest professions
after all organized crime wouldn't get
very far without the muscle
to intimidate or settle scores people
might hire a killer for all sorts of
reasons
they might want to assassinate a
political arrival get an insurance
payout
or just out of old-fashioned hatred and
abuse
i want him more than hurt because if he
could turn us down
you're very
it exists for those who squeamish to get
their hands dirty themselves
it seems to be individuals who are
either in
relationships to where they want out
where they are
seeking vengeance against a former
partner or
someone who they feel has done them
wrong beyond that
we don't really know who is paying hit
men's services
but the number of sites that are out
there would suggest it must be worth the
time
if the vendor is willing to pay for the
site and maintain it
in many ways it doesn't get much more
secretive there isn't an assassin's
directory with a neat list of names and
numbers to call in a jam
before the dark web there were two main
ways to solicit a contract killer
either you knew one through your own
dodgy activities
or you knew someone who knew someone
most hits
that do take place are often facilitated
by individuals in the real world not in
the digital world
it's mostly people who've been in prison
before who aren't afraid of engaging in
violence
and you connect with them via social
relationships
so it's a person you know or someone you
know who knows that individual
who makes that connection for you though
reports of online killers for hire have
proliferated over the last decade
they shouldn't be taken at face value
all the evidence that we can find to
date would suggest
that advertisements on the dark web are
false and are running because it's an
easy scam
essentially if you can get someone to
pay you five or ten thousand dollars in
bitcoin
and never expect them to contact you
again and just
assume that the hit will occur that is
such passive income
that it's it's a smart move if you're a
criminal
like any other internet scam gullibility
is the key
after all you can get almost anything
else on the dark web
drugs sex guns so why not your own
personal killer on the dark web
you have this allure of it being
legitimate by virtue of the hidden
nature of the dark web
hiring a contract killer takes more than
a mindful of revenge fantasies
and access to tour sure it's easy to
find people
claiming to be freelance mafia capos or
moonlighting
ex-green berets in desperate need of a
bit of spare cash
it's just that they'll invariably be
talking
all of this doesn't mean that real
contract killers don't exist
or even that they're particularly rare
for those with the cash to do so
mercenaries are an option these guns for
hire are slightly more legit than your
typical html
dark web hitman
just like any other line of work
contract killing has its own patterns
and trends
in 2014 researchers at birmingham city
university
published a study on the british pillar
for hire the
average cost of a hit in the uk is
15 108 pounds
the youngest recorded hitman was 15 the
oldest
63. most hits happened close to the
victim's home
committed by someone known to them only
one
woman killer was uncovered
importantly the killers could be
categorized into four distinct
groups it starts off with novices
individuals who have previously not
killed an individual but are prepared to
kill you've got the dilitantes
who have previously offended killing is
probably something
new to them but having said that they've
got the capability to do so
then you have the journeyman hitmen who
often
kill because they're part of an
organized crime group
and then you've got the master hit man
who is the professional hitman the
individual
who would be forensically sound though
popular culture likes to present us with
the image of the hyper-competent
professional
that isn't quite the reality of most
guns for hire
there aren't all that many super
assassins walking amongst us
and if there are they definitely aren't
the ones getting caught
it's true that our information about
this most secretive of criminal
fraternities comes from those who mess
up
perhaps spectacularly even a
professional seeming hit has a good
chance of going awry
in 2003 a shady underworld figure called
david king
rolex dave to his friends and enemies
was gunned down outside of a
hertfordshire gym with an
ak-47 it was thought to be the first
time such a powerful assault rifle had
been used in a british gangland slaying
though the gun suggested a degree of
financial muscle in organization
the gunman was still caught after a
plastic glove covered in prince
was left in a getaway car crime
doesn't pay all that risk and minimal
reward
days weeks months of painstaking
planning and paranoia for an average fee
that doesn't even top
20k it isn't a glamorous profession
violent people casually capable of
appalling acts of violence
are rarely as charming or clever as the
films or computer games rely on making
out
that isn't to say that they're just a
spook story with the right contacts
perhaps it wouldn't take all that long
to find a killer the old-fashioned way
through word of mouth or clandestine
underworld networks
but if you're thinking about taking that
search online
there's an overwhelming chance you're
talking to a scammer
or undercover law enforcement
you