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It's a common trope in movies that certain people, either spies or mercenaries, specialize in assassination. (An apparently well-paying but wearing specialty, since generally the assassins are freshly retired before being dragged back in for one last job...)

Is there any evidence that such a role has existed in modern times (say, since the end of WW2)?

I think there's a common-sense distinction between a movie-style assassin and a military sniper, a Mafia hit man, or a criminal thug:

  • Non-uniformed
  • Killing is primary job description, not a by-product
  • Does not decide on victim; is ordered / paid to perform assassination
  • Is not directly involved with the victim (is "brought in to handle the job")
  • Target is individual (different than a bomb-maker)
  • Reason to believe they've assassinated more than once

The last point is to weed out either one-off intelligence assassinations or a willing-but-idiotic psycho who takes out a classified ad in "Soldier of Fortune."

Jamiec
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Larry OBrien
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    Perhaps http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/ISN-Insights/Detail?lng=en&id=122286&contextid734=122286&contextid735=122282&tabid=122282 – picakhu Nov 17 '11 at 17:43
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    @picakhu Gotta' love an article that has the quote "Yet, even when accounting for income differences, Mexican hit men are underpaid." – Larry OBrien Nov 17 '11 at 18:58
  • A friend took a history class in college on American organized-crime. One source was the (purported) auto-biography of mob hitman who later turned to get a deal. I'd make this an answer if I thought I have any chance of finding the book, but it's been a long time... – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Nov 18 '11 at 00:23
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    Is your question about "legal/semi-legal" (police/military) assassins, or illegal ("gun for hire", criminal) ones? I think there is plenty of evidence about latter, therefore I assume the question is not about them, but it is not clear from it to me. – Suma Nov 18 '11 at 00:42
  • @dmckee: Is it "Joey the Hitman: The Autobiography of a Mafia Killer" (A.K.A. "Killer")? Or "The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer"? – Oddthinking Nov 18 '11 at 01:00
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    @Oddthinking: That sounds very familiar. I was struck by how low the going rate was (about half the value of a basic new car) and what simple technique the author employed. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Nov 18 '11 at 01:24
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    @Suma I'd be satisfied by proof of illegal assassins and the article by picakhu goes to that. But by "primary job description" I was trying to exclude the idea of, for instance, a Mafia enforcer who might break a leg on one day and kill someone on the next. The idea is a person who _specializes_ in killing, not just a thug who has no limits. – Larry OBrien Nov 18 '11 at 02:32
  • How many "kills" does the criminal assassin to have for you to consider him "professional"? Are two different murders/targets enough for you, or is there other criteria, like being able to live solely from the assassination rewards for some time? – Suma Nov 18 '11 at 07:31
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    Wiki provides quite a few examples, some of them referenced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitman – vartec Nov 18 '11 at 09:47
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    btw. "Target is individual (different than a bomb-maker)" - it's not at all exclusive, many mafia hits were performed using bombs in cars of individual people. – vartec Nov 18 '11 at 15:27
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    What about mercenaries? – Sam I Am Nov 18 '11 at 16:05
  • @Suma: By "professional" I envision a killer who dresses professionally in a suit (e.g., like James Bond usually does), communicates with class and dignity, and has high standards in how they do their work such as by making all their kills fast and painless (an _ethical_ decision, of course). – Randolf Richardson Nov 18 '11 at 21:23
  • @Suma "Lived for X consecutive years solely from revenue derived from Y assassinations" where X >= 1 and Y > 1 might do for an arbitrary threshold. – Larry OBrien Nov 18 '11 at 23:02

2 Answers2

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Wikipedia has an article about contract killers where some of them are listed. The ones that look the most like what you're searching for are:

In short: Yes, contract killers exist.

Oddthinking
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oezi
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    Hmm - for a professional, getting your name listed in Wikipedia would seem to be a negative... It's not really an occupation where you *want* publicity. :) – John C Nov 18 '11 at 12:55
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    maybe those guys weren't professional enough :D but at least Alexander Solonik has managed to escape from a maximum security prison - wich definitely gives him a + on his professionalist-score – oezi Nov 18 '11 at 13:13
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    @John C: Maybe they're so good that it doesn't matter if they're famous (their victims might just be frightened enough when they see their infamous killer approaching that they react by having a self-induced fatal heart attack). =P – Randolf Richardson Nov 18 '11 at 21:35
  • @RandolfRichardson I've never heard of any of the killers on that list. Well... other than Chuck Norris. – Mateen Ulhaq Dec 23 '11 at 09:32
  • Maybe the reason they're on Wikipedia is because *they* were caught and convicted. – Ernie Jul 08 '14 at 17:57
  • do guys here read anything besides wikipedia??? I've just joined and every question is answered using wikipedia. Why not just redirect all users of this website to wikipedia :| – Ejaz Jul 28 '14 at 15:17
8

Another example:

"35-year-old Igor Pikus, holder of a Belarusian passport, former soldier in the Soviet Union's elite Spetsnaz troops and later a KGB officer in Germany, who offered his services to criminal groups in Poland as a contract killer."

vartec
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