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.<ref name="ShantyMishra2008">Template:Cite book</ref> It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, monetary or otherwise.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
A male contract killer is colloquially known as a hitman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Statistics
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref name="lovers">Template:Cite news</ref>
Contract killers may share similarities with serial killers, such as detached financial and emotional incentives, but are not classified as such due to the differing objectives of their crimes.<ref name="Madjd-Sadjadi2013">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Sfn<ref name="WilsonYardley2015">Template:Cite book</ref> Nevertheless, there are occasionally individuals that are labelled as both contract killers and serial killers.<ref name="WilsonYardley2015" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="HolmesHolmes2009">Template:Cite book</ref>
See also
- Assassination market
- Cleaner (crime)
- List of contract killers and hitmen
- Mercenary
- Nothing Personal
- RentAHitman.com
- Wetwork