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Teenager Tries To Hire Hitman Via Facebook
An anonymous reader writes "Hiring a hitman can cost a pretty penny these days. Why buy an ad in the classifieds section when you can simply use Facebook? Of course, you may end up having to face 11 to 22 years in prison, but that's worth the risk, right? That's what happened to 19-year-old Corey C. Adams of Pennsylvania. Last June, Adams' 20-year-old victim said after she left a party, he jumped into her car and raped her. She went to police. He went to Facebook. Specifically, his status update read: 'I got 500 on a girls head who wants that bread? Hit me up anyway possible.'"
The guy sounds a complete douche but I'm not so sure posting a status update could be considered the same thing as "tried to hire a hitman". It sounds more like the usual passive aggressive comments shared between friends without realising that the police will take it completely seriously and charge you with it. The lesson is, as is ever more clear each day, expect your social network trawled for evidence if you're ever in trouble and take heed of privacy settings. I wonder what would have been made of it had his status update been completely locked to friends only?
jaymz
Clearly it's just part of the plan to get more eyeballs on that ad.
So do you need the 500 or not?!
You can't handle the truth.
Seriously. We only want to hear about rapists who release secret government documents... I mean alleged rapist... I mean a really nice guy who has no chance of actually being a rapist and was framed by [insert evil western government or corporation name here]. Wow. Almost pissed my karma away.
This post (though raising some interesting points) highlights some common misconceptions about martial arts. Martial arts (and fighting in general) are not magical. Just because you have "studied" some martial arts - fighting styles, techniques, conditioning, whatever - does not mean you will be equipped to defend yourself in a real-life scenario. Martial arts training is especially weak in situations where the victim has an extreme disadvantage, and when life is on the line. Most martial arts (including Judo, mentioned above) are primarily only valid in sport situations, where ground rules are laid out and the combatants know (at least roughly) what the other person is capable of doing/allowed to do.
If a 120 pound woman who has trained in some kind of standard martial arts (let's say jiu-jitsu and kickboxing) consistently for 10 years (a LONG TIME) is attacked by a 220 pound potential rapist who has no martial arts training outside of the occasional bar fight, my money is going on the rapist. Maybe she punches or kicks him in the face and leaves a bruise or knocks a few teeth out...and maybe he retaliates by beating her senseless with a few clumsy blows that she doesn't have the physical strength to block. Maybe she is able to break his arm, and maybe he retaliates by lifting her bodily and putting her head through a windshield. Maybe he catches her unawares and injures her so badly she is unable to put up any kind of effective defense. Maybe she is able to fight him off without being raped/killed/hospitalized, but I do not like her chances. Rapists are not known for fighting fair.
This is not to say that martial arts training is not good or useful. Martial arts training can be used to build confidence, make people aware of potential violence, help people remain calm in violent situations, and sometimes give people the tools that they do need to actually defend themselves - but it is definitely not some magical rape-prevention tactic.
As most rape cases are not assault cases against sober victims
If Jackie Chan has taught me anything, being drunk gives you UNSTOPPABLE kung fu powers.
IANAL, but I did run a Private Investigation firm. A lot of people are in jail because they didn't understand the law about this.
If you exchange anything of value under the pretense of hiring a hitman, then you are guilty of consipiracy to commit murder. For all intents and purposes, the ability or even the intent of the person you "hire" is not relevant, nor is the amount of total value of the exchange. Just like robbing a bank with a gun counts even if the gun was fake/had no bullets/etc.
Merely saying "I wish someone would kill " is a weaker version of "I will give someone $500 to kill " - solicitation. This is where you get into a slipperly slope of how much that resembles an agreement. For instance, if a 9 year says "I will give you a trillion dollars to kill ", that is not very credible. But if a mafia godfather with a track record of hiring killers and rewarding them merely says "Person is annoying me", that might be sufficient.
The real trouble comes when you exchange something of value. I was working a case once where someone was in prison for conspiracy because they asked someone to kill their girlfriend. The "hitman" asked for $1500. The guy told him he was broke. The "hitman" said "yeah, I could do it for free but I would have to leave town." So the person gave him $15 for bus fare. That was enough to show a contract. It turned out his hitman was an undercover cop. Now the guy is serving 15 years.
So in Facebook, if you said "I will be your neighbor in farmville if you kill her", and someone accepts that gift, that would be the same as you paying some stranger $10k.