# People respond to a "Rent a Hitman" website, web guy turns them in **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2021, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065 "2021-12-14T18:32:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![webwarrior](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/webwarrior/32/9529_2.png) [@webwarrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/webwarrior)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/21 "2021-12-14T22:17:07Z")
You are absolutely right about that, IMHO. Think of the implications should this go to mainstream law enforcement. it does sound as if the site operator has found a loophole in the law. Once he gets established, the blackmail & extortion possiblities are endless. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/22 "2021-12-14T22:24:05Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Meh, she may not have done it if she didn’t find the web site. That’s certainly possible, but going to the extent of driving somewhere to meet a potential hitman and give them cash is substantial action toward that goal. It’s not like this was a momentary passing bit of “I’m gonna kill that guy” anger. > [@webwarrior](#): > > it does sound as if the site operator has found a loophole in the law I don’t know what the loophole is supposed to be. What’s he doing that ought to be illegal? He has an obvious joke of a website, and the very few morons with actual criminal intent who contact him in furtherance of their schemes get turned over to the cops. ---
**Author:** ![webwarrior](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/webwarrior/32/9529_2.png) [@webwarrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/webwarrior)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/23 "2021-12-14T22:26:26Z")
If the website is obviously a joke, then you are certainly right. ---
**Author:** ![webwarrior](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/webwarrior/32/9529_2.png) [@webwarrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/webwarrior)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/24 "2021-12-14T22:27:41Z")
You could argue the site operator was “in fact” acting as an agent of law enforcement. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/25 "2021-12-14T22:28:06Z")
We don’t need to speculate here. There’s a link to the website. It is _obviously_ a joke! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/26 "2021-12-14T22:31:18Z")
Pretty sure that any such argument would require some kind of evidence that the website operator was induced to do this at the behest of law enforcement. But he’s not. He’s just a dude with a website on his on personal quest for entertainment/justice. People, through the course of their normal lives, become aware of potential criminal activity all the time. Reporting that to the cops does not make them “agents” of law enforcement. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/27 "2021-12-14T23:49:13Z")
> [@webwarrior](#): > > You could argue the site operator was “in fact” acting as an agent of law enforcement. An excellent point, Sir. They have taken advantage of the situation at least twice. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2021, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/28 "2021-12-14T23:50:46Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > We don’t need to speculate here. There’s a link to the website. It is _obviously_ a joke! So were Al Capone’s tax returns. Or, less humorlessly, try and convince a District Attorney running for Governor. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/29 "2021-12-15T01:07:04Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > At any rate, it isn’t entrapment because the police aren’t running the web site. That’s not the determining factor, though. It’s well established that state officials like police can’t violate your rights by just farming the violation out to a non-state party. If he were engaging in a level of actively encouraging people to hire a hitman that would be considered entrapment if the police did it directly, it would still be entrapment if he then passed them along to the police. The question of entrapment is based on how hard they have to push you to commit the illegal act, not who does the pushing. Creating a website, and then asking, “Are you sure?” if someone signs up isn’t entrapment. But, if after asking, “Are you sure?” and being told, “No, I’ve come to my senses, sorry to have bothered you!”, he started harassing the person, pestering them to hire a hitman, maybe threatening them with blackmail if they don’t go through with it, that would likely be entrapment. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/30 "2021-12-15T01:13:19Z")
> Wendy Wein wanted her ex-husband dead. > > In July of 2020 the Michigan woman came across a website that promised to “handle your delicate situation” privately and in a timely manner First thing that came to my mind: What the hell did you search to come across a website called “rent a hitman”? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/31 "2021-12-15T01:15:41Z")
You Google “How do I find a hitman?”. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/32 "2021-12-15T01:27:22Z")
If you google that the first hit is a youtube video. I’m envisioning something like this: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lbxfwYmoxic/maxresdefault.jpg "best of: Corey from Corey's World") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbxfwYmoxic) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/33 "2021-12-15T01:30:46Z")
Is “Criminally Stupid” a legal term and, if not, should it be? 😄 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/34 "2021-12-15T02:08:01Z")
Oh no, I wasn’t thinking of you at all, honest! I found someone ridiculing it on Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/35 "2021-12-15T02:12:20Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is “Criminally Stupid” a legal term and, if not, should it be? 😄 We aren’t supposed to make political statements here, so I guess not. Perhaps lawyers might try to make the case. I recall a film, “The 25th Hour”. In court for being a Nazi, the attorney asks Anthony Quinn, “Mr. Moritz, do you have any idea why you are here?” The innocent Quinn shakes his head. Well, dammit, on edit he isn’t a criminal. Back to no political comments. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/36 "2021-12-15T20:58:33Z")
First result from Googling how do you rent a hitman is his site…great SEO! ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/37 "2021-12-15T21:00:24Z")
Sorry, @Czarcasm, I swear there was no “1 Reply” underneath when I did my reply! I hate it when people answer something a second time as if it’s new information. But I’ll take the hit [pun intended]. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/38 "2021-12-15T21:11:26Z")
I just realized that MY ex wife may find that site. dammit. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/39 "2021-12-16T00:09:06Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > So were Al Capone’s tax returns. Tax returns are legal documents. Websites are not. > [@](#): > > Or, less humorlessly, try and convince a District Attorney running for Governor. Convince him of what? What do you think the charge would be? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065/40 "2021-12-16T00:53:37Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Creating a website, and then asking, “Are you sure?” if someone signs up isn’t entrapment. But, if after asking, “Are you sure?” and being told, “No, I’ve come to my senses, sorry to have bothered you!”, he started harassing the person, pestering them to hire a hitman, maybe threatening them with blackmail if they don’t go through with it, that would likely be entrapment. In Canada, it would only be entrapment if he’s a police agent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-respond-to-a-rent-a-hitman-website-web-guy-turns-them-in/956065.md?page=3)