# How come so many people end up hiring undercover cops as hitmen ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563 "2010-06-09T18:21:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/21 "2010-06-10T01:38:35Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > They want someone dead, and they are a regular schmoe. They don’t know any hit man so they start asking. One or many of the people that they ask decided that they want no part of this and calls the cops. The cops then send an undercover out posing as a hit man. I believe this is the most common scenario. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/22 "2010-06-10T01:50:26Z")
I prosecuted a guy who _wanted_ to be a hitman. He was a young hood from the country who thought the fantasies of hitmen were real. He did kill two people, though, on separate occasions. And he got caught because it’s amazing what people actually notice about strange cars in an area. As has been said above, there are no hitmen in the classic movie sense. Just psychopaths and wannabes who big up their reps with a lot of sinister talk and dark allusion. And I agree that the undercover cop thing is just a consequence of the usual idiot who wants to hire a hitman not knowing what he is doing, and asking the wrong people for direction, who duly put him in to the police. And I prosecuted a guy who hired a hitman to kill his wife. He got a mook who was a butcher who actually knew the wife to wander round to the wife’s place and stab her to death. Mook was dumb as gravel, and he got caught fairly quickly (the wife was coincidentally on the phone when he came round calling and said to the person on the other end of the line, “Oh, Mook is here. I’ll talk to you later.” ) Often, the “killing the hitman” strategy backfires (whether the hitman be a hired killer, hired torch in an arson case, hired car thief in an insurance scam, whatever). The hitman is a cut-out whose sole purpose is to allow you to be distanced from the killing. Even if they roll over on you, they are terrible witnesses with motives to lie coming out the wazoo. They are not terribly credible witnesses, and there is often, deliberately, no or not much corroboration. The mook in the above story was so dumb that he was convincing - “too stupid to lie”. And the husband had left a trail a mile wide when he took his hitman around for a pre-kill scoping of the scene, even though he thought he was being ultra careful. But if you then kill the hitman, you undo all of that and undo the purpose of having him in the first place. You risk creating a trail that links you to two murders. My advice - don’t kill people. 🙂 It’s all much, much harder than it looks. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/23 "2010-06-10T02:35:53Z")
I swear, when I read the title I though you were asking how come so many undercover cops moonlight as hitmen. It wasn’t until the third post that I figured out the question. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/24 "2010-06-10T03:54:06Z")
> [@Noel\_Prosequi](#): > > My advice - don’t kill people. 🙂 It’s all much, much harder than it looks. Once again, I’ve learned something from the wiser folk here. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@Mister\_Owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Owl)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/25 "2010-06-10T05:15:59Z")
I know a couple of guys that “solve problems.” No really, I do. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/26 "2010-06-10T07:59:59Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I swear, when I read the title I though you were asking how come so many undercover cops moonlight as hitmen. It wasn’t until the third post that I figured out the question. As did I. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/27 "2010-06-10T15:02:07Z")
Incidentally, this happened to my former employer, a federal judge. A guy started asking around about hitman, and somebody put him in touch with a “hitman” from the FBI. He gave the “hitman” gruesomely detailed custom murder instructions, along with several thousand dollars. He’s now serving a life sentence in federal prison. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/28 "2010-06-10T15:43:54Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Because the only ones you hear about are the ones where some moron mistakenly hired a cop. Just think about the thousands of successful hits being carried off daily by reputable hitmen that you don’t hear about. Thousands daily? I doubt there’s one daily. The USa has about 18,000 murders a year, or about 50 per day. I’d wager 99.99% of murders have nothing to do with hit men, but are crimes of passion, psychos, serial killers, drug deals gone wrong, robberies and that kind of shit. It’s already been said; real professional hit men like in the movies don’t exist. Even professional criminals generally use disposable schlubs who won’t be missed if they get caught. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/29 "2010-06-10T15:50:25Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > When it comes to crime, I’m a rank amateur. I wouldn’t know where to find a reliable hit man if I wanted one! Surely a thread in GQ would do the trick (possibly with “need answer fast” in the title)! Or possibly a IMHO (“Can anyone recommend a local hitman / freelance mafioso”). ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/30 "2010-06-10T16:00:18Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Thousands daily? I doubt there’s one daily. > > The USa has about 18,000 murders a year, or about 50 per day. I’d wager 99.99% of murders have nothing to do with hit men, but are crimes of passion, psychos, serial killers, drug deals gone wrong, robberies and that kind of shit. > > It’s already been said; real professional hit men like in the movies don’t exist. Even professional criminals generally use disposable schlubs who won’t be missed if they get caught. I think you got whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/31 "2010-06-10T16:39:32Z")
So, no professionals here? This’d be a perfect opportunity to post your resume, and a link to your [ItchyTriggerFinger.com](http://ItchyTriggerFinger.com) page. And if my wife sees this, I’m just kidding around, dear. And I do hope you’re not taking notes… ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/32 "2010-06-11T17:38:24Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Incidentally, this happened to my former employer, a federal judge. A guy started asking around about hitman, and somebody put him in touch with a “hitman” from the FBI. He gave the “hitman” gruesomely detailed custom murder instructions, along with several thousand dollars. He’s now serving a life sentence in federal prison. Exactly. Most of the situations I recall from the news, the busines associate or wife or whatever starts asking around if someone knows a hitman. Usually they ask the type that just got out of jail or they know has a long record or shady job or something. Most of these guys have nothing to do with organized crime, and probably do not hang out at the Bar Full of Underworld Types (that other Hollywood invention). If they are just out of jail, they are probably on parole and don’t need anyone to find out that they have been ignoring a potential crime, plus they could use the brownie points with the cops and parole board. So they tell the law enforcement and arrange for their “friend” to meet this “hitman”. Cops owe them a favour. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/33 "2010-06-11T19:36:39Z")
Kind of a hijack, but, one of those crime shows on TV have some undercover stings of spouses wanting to hire hit men. The funny thing is, the hirers actually had very little money on them. They would also offer very low amounts of money. I think the highest I heard was 3000 dollars, for the total. But, the kicker was, when the cops asked for the down payment, the husbands would say stuff like “Well, I can give you thirty dollars now, and the rest when I get her insurance money.” This happened A LOT. This kind of idiocy is perhaps why so many of the people hire cops. I’m surprised that there isn’t a desk at the PD with 'Discount Spouse Murder Division." best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/34 "2010-06-11T19:44:37Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > First, forget any glamorous portrayals you may have seen of “hit men” in the movies. Max Von Sydow in “Three Days of the Condor”? That guy doesn’t exist. Christopher Lee in “Man With the Golden Gun”? Sorry, he doesn’t exist either. There AREN’T any worldly, sophisticated, intellectual assassins who charge a million dollars a kill, collect art, and live on the Riviera between jobs. Damn. Well there goes my career plan. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/35 "2010-06-11T21:53:20Z")
I had a temp job and they put me in a bail bonds agency. Now when I started I was under the impression that criminals NEVER snitched on each other. This was the cardinal sin. You know the old movie line, “you know what we do to snitchers.” Boy is that a myth. Do you know how many people are ratting each other out? Virtually everyone. As soon as they are arrested, they are making deals with the cops to get a cut in their sentence. They’ll turn over any info they have just to get a week off of their sentence. The “no snitch” code doesn’t really apply. OK maybe to a huge mafia kingpin, but from what I saw, it was a totaly myth. A person will rat out another for almost any consideration from the cops. I’m sure that’s where a lot of inside info comes from. You want to hire a hitman and you tell Joe Schmoe. He gets caughts shoplifting, and then in order to get a week of his sentence, tells the cop about this guy he talked to in a bar wanting to hire a hitman. Now the cops have the info and it has nothing to do with anyone. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/36 "2010-06-12T01:41:33Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Kind of a hijack, but, one of those crime shows on TV have some undercover stings of spouses wanting to hire hit men. > > The funny thing is, the hirers actually had very little money on them. They would also offer very low amounts of money. I think the highest I heard was 3000 dollars, for the total. But, the kicker was, when the cops asked for the down payment, the husbands would say stuff like “Well, I can give you thirty dollars now, and the rest when I get her insurance money.” This happened A LOT. This kind of idiocy is perhaps why so many of the people hire cops. I’m surprised that there isn’t a desk at the PD with 'Discount Spouse Murder Division." > > best wishes, > hh I noticed that as well. Why would any sane person think that a hit man would commit murder for fifty bucks? ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/37 "2010-06-12T07:45:27Z")
> [@](#): > > As has been said above, there are no hitmen in the classic movie sense. Just psychopaths and wannabes who big up their reps with a lot of sinister talk and dark allusion Oh really? What about the Blind Faith case? That was the case where a husband in NJ hired some hitmen from the Mafia to off his wife for insurance purposes. [Blind Faith (disambiguation) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Faith_(book)) ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/38 "2010-06-12T14:13:14Z")
> [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](#): > > Oh really? What about the Blind Faith case? That was the case where a husband in NJ hired some hitmen from the Mafia to off his wife for insurance purposes. [Blind Faith (disambiguation) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Faith_(book)) The link goes to Wiki but not to an article. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/39 "2010-06-12T14:20:23Z")
But you can just click the link beside “Did you mean:”. Or, try [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Faith_%28book%29) ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563/40 "2010-06-12T23:03:29Z")
> [@Noel\_Prosequi](#): > > And I prosecuted a guy who hired a hitman to kill his wife. He got a mook who was a butcher who actually knew the wife to wander round to the wife’s place and stab her to death. Mook was dumb as gravel, and he got caught fairly quickly (the wife was coincidentally on the phone when he came round calling and said to the person on the other end of the line, “Oh, Mook is here. I’ll talk to you later.” ) Was the mook successful in killing her? I was going to laugh at them getting caught because they were dumb, but it sounds like the woman actually died… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-people-end-up-hiring-undercover-cops-as-hitmen/542563.md?page=3)