This article published in the Los Angeles Times on April 8th, describes an Orange County woman who has been charged with allegedly hiring a hit man, (a grocery store butcher) to kill her husband. The woman was having an intense affair, and she and the lover devised the plan to have her husband killed. The hired hit man not only killed the victim but also brutally attacked the man with a machete that left him with three amputated fingers and most of his nose severed off.
This is a sick case for several reasons. First, for a wife to hire to kill her husband is disturbing. But what is even more disturbing is the way in which the hired hit man almost “butchered” the victim, showing that he most likely gets some sort of satisfaction from killing. This idea of killing for satisfaction goes against what we read in Ken Levi article “becoming a hit man.” In this article an interviewed “hit man,” describes his experience in killing people for money “Pete says that he noticed his victim approach, he was aware of the man’s presence. But he noticed none of the man’s personal features, he did not see the victims face or expressions.” By aiming to not look directly at the victim, this shows a calculated disconnect with the victim, making it just a job, nothing personal. This idea of not getting personal contradicts the article in which the hired hit man took the time to not only kill the victim, but to individually cut of fingers and his nose. Particularly, the hit man cut of the victims ring finger which shows that he got to know the story behind the killing, in which a wife whom no longer wanted to be married, wanted the husband dead. This gruesome act of cutting of the victim’s ring finger shows that the hit man got personal with the case. Its difficult to think that the hit man did this because he wasn’t emotionally attached to the case, just simply didn’t mind not only killing the victim but also brutally attacking the man.
This story is fairly unusual because it is a woman being charged for killing a man. Typically, women commit less crime then men, across time, culture and category (Lecture 2/25). However, the woman didn’t actually do the killing herself, so her non-violent involvement is typical of crimes in general, especially murder. In addition the fact that she and her male lover formulated the attack also is typical because the woman’s involvement in a murder case typically involves a man, and in this case that fits the mold.
to view this story click: #mce_temp_url#