Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors

Has anyone heard of this book or read it? From wikipedia:
Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors is a book written under the pseudonym Rex Feral and published by Paladin Press in 1983. It has been claimed that the book started life as a detailed crime novel written by a Florida housewife, and that the format was later changed to appeal to Paladin's reader base. The book portrays itself as a how-to manual on starting a career as a hit man, fulfilling contracts.

Existing copies at Paladin Press were destroyed after the book was found to be used as a guide during a triple murder in 1993 (see below), but it can still be found online or can be purchased used from independent sellers. It is believed that 13,000 copies were sold, although Reason Magazine estimates there are 20,000 copies of the book in existence.
What I don't understand is what could this book possibly say about performing contract killings that you couldn't sort of piece together yourself? It's not like the Anarchist's Cookbook, where you could find detailed recipes for bombs that you might not otherwise find elsewhere or be able to divine yourself. But allegedly this book was so detailed and helpful that it was found to have aided and abetted a triple murder:
In 1993, a triple murder was committed in Montgomery County, Maryland, by a man who claimed to have used the book as his guide. James Perry, who had been imprisoned for violent crime, was caught, convicted, and sentenced to death. He had been hired by Lawrence T. Horn, who sought to receive the proceeds of a trust fund that resulted from his ex-wife's suing a hospital over injuries to their son. The families of Mildred Horn, her son Trevor, and her nurse Janice Saunders sued Paladin Press, the publisher of the book, claiming Paladin Press "aided and abetted" the murder. The suit, Rice v Paladin Enterprises, claimed that Paladin Press had a share of responsibility in the murders by virtue of their publication of a book that, by Paladin's own admission, could be used by criminals and would-be criminals in the solicitation, planning, and commission of murder for hire.

In November 1997, a U.S. appeals court ruled 3-0 that Hit Man was not protected by the free speech/free press clause of the First Amendment and thus Paladin Enterprises could be held liable for a triple murder committed by one of its readers.

On May 21, 1999, Paladin Press' insurance company agreed to settle the case out-of-court, against the wishes of Paladin Press themselves, who were confident that they would prevail in court; however, Paladin’s insurance company balked at going to court again, figuring expenses for a lengthy trial in federal court, plus the posting of a bond in case they lost and appealed, would have cost much more than the settlement.[4] Under this settlement, Paladin's insurance policy paid several million dollars to the families of those killed by the murderer, while also agreeing to destroy the remaining 700 copies of the book in their possession and surrendering any rights they had to publish and reproduce the work. Jon Ford, Paladin’s editorial director, called the settlement "economic censorship."
What?! Censorship?! This is much worse than the Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure censorship.

61 comments:

  1. Hmmm, the only way I could see that this particular book would provide Perry with a blueprint for murder is by advocating for, and gelling with, a long-standing fantasy of his at the 'right' time.

    I'm quite interested in how people who are motivated, often over years, to murder by their thoughts - their aggressive fantasy builds, repetitively, to a point where their inner stress is unbearable and so the way for action is prepared. But I don't believe that's the case here.

    To my mind the victim's family, friends, and community needed someone to blame as a way out of their grief along the lines of the Judas Priest suicide trial: Perry's lawyer countered that he learned how to be a contract killer while growing up in a tough neighbourhood in Detroit.

    Apparently the federal lawsuit settled a week before going to trial due to the nearby Columbine High School massacre occurring a month prior as well as a copycat school shooting the same week – it was felt that the jury would not have been easily persuaded. I agree as the media hysteria, moral panic, and scapegoating (hello) were high.

    Oh - and apparently the book was tongue in cheek and, so the publishing house's lawyer also claimed, the real author was female.

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  2. Well, you can always rely on humanity to blame something other than itself (denial) for it's actions. It's disgusting and a useful tool simultaneously.

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  3. Sea With, do I sense some discrediting due to the gender of the writer? This is why a lot of women use a male pseudonym, because of people like you asshole under the disguise of a well-read/well-spoken ass. Rot under water or reclaim yourself.

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  4. Pass the buck, will you?

    As far as enabling someone, although some people might be perfectly capable of doing an act without a guide, sometimes things like these enable someone's fantasy to run wild. Constant fantasy shifts into actual simulations. Simulation shifts into plotting. What then, to stop the final act?

    Sounds rather dramatic, and it certainly isn't an excuse for the pro-censorship people. Just something that can happen with a desperate, obsessive mind.

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  5. totally, see bitch 6:03. if a guy wrote the book perry and horn wouldn't have been caught - it's as simple as that. how hard is it to instruct someone to put three bullets in one chick's head, two bullets in another chick's head, disconnect a kid from life-support, and smother him for good measure? duh. i reckon this author chick, like all chicks, didn't know what she was talking about. bet she only got the gig because she was screwing her boss.

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  6. HAAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

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  7. Equally disgusting, but screwing her boss has a point...

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  8. chicks at 6:37.

    his male moron brain followed at best he could, didn't he? but fucked up. take responsibility, all low-functioning trying to execute something.

    why do you think there are ace students and f students in each class taught by the same teacher, chico?

    now, bend over and smell shit between your legs.

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  9. Anons arguing with themselves.

    MY FAVORITE!

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  10. NTP above anons. Does anyone know him? Oh, goodness, can't stop laughing... How narc are you our well-known (please not an anon) Notable? Come wipe my pussy I peed while laughing. You must be hungry for attention today, I aim to please

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  11. Hell, some here would use their tongue as opposed to a tissue for that task. Is TNP not one of them?

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  12. I think ME is trying to tell us that he wants to be a hitman.

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  13. Good for him, I support his choices whatever he chooses and I am certain that if he has not developed his marksmanship beyond the norm yet that his biology would aid him in being a cut above. (see earlier blog regarding left/right hand/eye mastery.)
    Emphasis on biological NOT psychological predispositions.

    Back to the topic, I take that back. *cough* What I meant to say was, there are no deviants here. Why would anyone say such things?~

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  14. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gilmore

    Serious dude ^

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  15. Gilmore is the quintessential sociopath, an impulsive street smart mess, although i don't think he was a psychopath.

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  16. http://mirror.die.net/hitman/

    Found it! XD

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  17. What a ridiculous book. How did the court take this seriously.

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  18. Havent read the book but i could see how something like it would be helpful. The actual act of killing a person is not that difficult, humans are relatively fragile. The hard part, i think, would be not getting caught. There are little tricks of the trade that i'm sure would be important to know, like to cut away from you when you slit someone's throat so the blood doesnt splatter onto you.

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  19. I don't need a book to tell me how to get away with a murder, anyone with common sense (which is a rare bunch) knows how to get away with one, just sit down and plan it out for an hour or two.

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  20. anon 8:49, yes, the tongue like a puppy keeping momma clean, momma in oxytocin

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  21. Why cut away from you to avoid a mess when you can just poison them?

    UKan, you can refer to my earlier post:

    "Well, you can always rely on humanity to blame something other than itself (denial) for it's actions. It's disgusting and a useful tool simultaneously."

    Denial is why. We could expand on this at your leisure.

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  22. Dudes, i recommend watching "The Corporation", it's a documentary in which they compare corporate America to a psychopath, and guess what the outcome is... equality of course.

    Corporate America even scores higher than the highest score a known sociopath scored.

    Plus there is an interview with Dr. Robert Hare comparing the two because as you might know, legally, a corporation is considered a person.

    This is laughable...

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  23. Shut the fuck up you indie douche.

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  24. I wonder what everyone else here thinks of mindfulness, I find that just sitting back and experiencing things without attempting to reach a specific goal or without judging is the best way to get back in touch with my emotions.

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  25. If I do that I tend to get bored very quickly.

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  26. 12:54 When I do it it makes me much less bored, it opens up my awareness.

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  27. Mike, not just the documentary's creator but I too see similarities between corporate america (as a tangible existance) compared to a psychopath (explained/defined on paper by a half-ass psychiatrist). Despite it's comparison striking as apples and oranges to me the notion for such a comparison seems legit without needing to watch and learn from said documentary. I should think the characteristics are readily visible.

    Even without such thinking, most of us here are fairly familiar with the types of people who create systems of control for the sheep. All too easy to assume a psychopath either created the system or hyjacked it.

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  28. I believe that a sociopath is not needed as the head of a corporation for it to do harm.

    It's like a worker in a car factory doesn't think that he is doing something wrong while he is building a car but the cars that they build contribute to the CO2 emissions that destroy the environment.

    Just like that a CEO of a company doesn't think that he is doing a bad thing, better yet, he tries to do good for the environment by donating money and doing research or whatnot...

    He is just doing his job. The fact that he has a lot of money doesn't seem wrong to him because he was just doing his job very well and nothing else.

    It's the corporation in itself that is doing the wrong things and as i said before, a corporation is the equivalent of a person legally but it cannot be punished like a normal person would be punished for the same wrong-doings. It is only being fined for pollution or whatever.

    And the corporation is that way because of the market's way of being.

    That puts capitalism next to fascism and nazism except the capitalism is being run by jews.

    And that puts the jews and their form of government next to Hitler and Mussolini on a totalitarianism scale.

    That's why it would've been better if Hitler won the war and that's what Hitler was fighting against.

    But that's just me...

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  29. All the jews that were bugging Hitler in Austria and Germany ran away to America.

    And that's how you get your Corporate America. Jews...

    But, again, that's just me...

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  30. M.E. covered the corporation as sociopath thing here.

    capitalism is being run by jews

    Wow Mike. Really? Ignorant much?

    But, again, that's just me...

    Thank Jesus.

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  31. Joe. "It opens up my awareness" Your awareness of what?

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  32. "capitalism is being run by jews

    Wow Mike. Really? Ignorant much?

    But, again, that's just me...

    Thank Jesus."



    Stupid fuck.

    This quote comes from a jew:

    “There are few peoples if any in the world who owe so great a debt to free enterprise and competitive capitalism as the Jews.“

    Milton Friedman - Capitalism and the Jews

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  33. I've never heard so much shit come out of one mouth, Mike.

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  34. Mike, you are a fucking idiot. Your quote does not prove any of your previous assertions. What evidence do you have that demonstrates that "jews" are running "capitalism"?

    Why are racists dumb?

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  35. He doesn't need evidence, he's dumb. Arguing with a racist is like arguing with a religious person. In other words, dont bother. To be honest though, I've actually encouraged racist attitudes in people in the past. Not because I am a racist. I just like the thought of people going out and abusing others and perhaps even harming others for no particular reason.

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  36. Didn't you used to be some kind of neo-nazi or whatever, Notable?

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  37. Wow Misanthrope you are a fucking badass, i mean look at your name, it just screams badassery, do you have a t shirt that says "sociopath" on it?

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  38. No, but I have a T-shirt that says "I'm with stupid". That's pretty badass, right?

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  39. I hope to one day disillusion a very religious person and ruin them... It would be a beautiful thing.

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  40. *leaps on Misanthrope, wrestles him to the ground* Hugs, Misanthrope! Let's "be with stupid" together!

    (But only for the next five minutes or so, since my attention span is short.)

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  41. The funniest thing about the shirt is that the arrows underneath "I'm with stupid" point left and right. People take it as a joke, but it's actually how I feel most days.

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  42. >Joe... I find that just sitting back and experiencing things without attempting to reach a specific goal or without judging is the best way to get back in touch with my emotions.


    That puts me out of touch. I have to throw myself into some people drama. Their emotions become my emotions.

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  43. I really do feel like a wolf in sheeps clothing. Everyone that I know is genuinely convinced that I care deeply about them, but I don't. I'm constantly thinking about what they can do for me, how they can make my life that bit easier and how I can wriggle my way out of ever having to pay them back, and that's how it's been for as long as I can remember. But they all love me because they think I love them. I didn't even buy anyone christmas presents. I didn't have to lie or make up excuses, because they all did it for me.

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  44. Whilst we're doing therapy sessions, I'm having a couple of issues with the whole hiding thing. It's not that I can't, I do it excellently, it's just that I can't be bothered. Friends and relationships are so much effort to maintain and they're really dull. But if you don't have any you're not normal, and that's not good. I used to love all that stuff I never really wanted people to do stuff for me though, well that wasn't my main priority. I just liked to lie to them or mess with their heads. Now though, they're too stupid and too emotional and it's just too... boring.

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  45. You can't push your friend to far otherwise they'll leave you. That's something I've figured out. If you don't have any friends your an outcast and a freak, and thats what people will see you as. I always need a vice. When I was younger, I was completely out of control, but those were the best times of my life. I nead to lash out agains society and behave criminaly from time to time otherwise I start to resent myself, and end up releasing my aggression at inappropriate times, and for no reason. I've got this guy who I basically call up from time to time, and we go out and do all types of illegal shit. He's sort of like my accomplice. For him it's all about making some cash, but for me it's just something that I need to do. I think you just need to find a vice and an accomplice of your own, to add some excitement to your life.

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  46. *"When I was younger" During my childhood and early teens I mean.

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  47. That'll be me then, outcast & freak. But I like to instill a sense in all my groups of acquaintances that I am only not hanging out with them because I have other people I have to hang out with. Excitement is what I live for. Actually, just anything to stop being bored. But it's pretty hard to find anything like that. Yeah breaking the law can be fun but then it becomes routine and normal and you've gotta up the stakes if you want to get any joy out of it. Unfortunately that usually means upping the consequences should you get caught. If I keep doing that there's no telling where it's going to end. You know you've got problems when jumping out a moving plane is only a little bit fun.

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  48. thats why people go base jumping.

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  49. True. No fun on your own though.
    Never thought I'd hear myself say that.

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  50. lol. if you go base jumping your bound to find some ass wholes who don't care what the fuck you are as long as you go with them. besides a real socio hos no fear. If your consequence is prison then what are you worried about? live while you can or you might as well be there already.

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  51. No fear doesn't mean I'm going to be stupid. Prison doesn't suit me. I don't agree with being confined or told what to do, it pisses me off. The pay off has to be worth the risk or you're just being dumb.

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  52. Even the best get caught eventually... no fun without the risk

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  53. Keep it balanced. You need risk. You need freedom to pursue that risk. It's about the only thing I manage to see long term.

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  54. agreed. eventually the risk isn't enough and the pursuit of power takes over. If the only reward is the thrill then the end is near. Eventually other people become the tools for your gain. Thats when shit really gets fun... or so I'm told.

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  55. Goto prison enough and it won't mean anything to you either. Being a criminal becomes a routine job just like anything else.

    After a while you will chase the dream of being legitimate, which for most never happends. When you get to that position where you can become legitimate it becomes too hard to leave, because you have to start over in a segment of society that shitted on you your whole life. Even worse you would have to leave the life where people treat you with respect and you could do what you want.

    Living with constant threats in your life like imprisonment or death gets old, but I am hooked to the game. I can't stop myself from escalating things. My lifes been on a crash course since I could remember. I don't remember any day in my life I wasn't under the gun. Its been surviving more than I guess you can call it living. I wonder sometimes if I could ever live differently or if I'm destined for life in prison.

    Reguardless I love this life and all of its trappings. Tonight I dine as king, tommorrow doesn't even matter.

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  56. UKan, I feel for you and this is not sarcasm.

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  59. Anyone know if any original copies are still remaining? And how much they originally cost?

    ReplyDelete

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