Contracting a k*ller is a terrible idea. Homicide is a complex matter, and murder conspiracies seldom end well. Though notorious h*tmen like Bugsy Siegal and Richard Kuklinski have been highly successful in the industry, many others have proven incompetent. When a clumsy assass*n teams up with an inept employer, the result can be a disaster. In this article, we present ten failed m*rder-for-hire schemes.
10) Tan Youhui and the Dirty Half-Dozen
Nowadays, outsourcing is a common practice that can lead to unsatisfactory results. In 2013, Chinese real estate investor Tan Youhui learned this lesson the hard way. He paid h*tman Xi Guangan around $282,600 to kill Wei, a plaintiff in a lawsuit against him. However, Xi Guangan outsourced the job to another h*tman instead of carrying it out himself. This process continued, with each h*tman outsourcing the job to another, until Ling Xiansi was hired to commit the m*rder.
Instead of k*lling Wei, Ling Xiansi met with him and conspired to fake his death. They provided false photographic evidence to deceive Tan Youhui. When Wei realized that he was in danger, he contacted the police, who investigated the matter. According to Chinese court records, all six men involved were found guilty of their crimes and received prison sentences.
9) The Green Widow and Her 3 H*tmen
While Hollywood is infamous for graphic special effects, actual m*rder is not confined to the silver screen. One such case is that of Mary Ellen Samuels, who in 1988 was going through a divorce. She paid James Bernstein to orchestrate the m*rder of her husband, Robert. Strangely, Bernstein was involved romant*cally with Samuels daughter at the time.
Following Robert’s death, Samuels inherited a large sum of money, earning her the nickname “Green Widow” due to her lavish spending. However, as police began investigating the case, Mary Ellen grew anxious that Bernstein would confess. So she hired two more hitmen to eliminate him. They ultimately testified against her, and in 1994, she was given the death penalty. Although her sentence was later commuted, it is unlikely that she will ever be released from prison.
8) Ramon Sosa’s Undercover Adventure
Ramon Sosa, a resident of Texas, believed he had found true love when he married Lulu Dorantes. However, it turned out that Lulu was only interested in his money. In 2015, Ramon discovered that Lulu had hired a mutual friend to k*ll him. Instead of following through, the friend contacted Ramon, and the two of them embarked on an undercover operation.
They secretly recorded Lulu as she plotted the m*rder with a bogus h*tman. They then took all the evidence to the police department. The Houston Police Department was determined to expose Lulu, and they helped Ramon fake his death by staging photos of his “body” inside a makeshift grave. Lulu was subsequently sentenced to twenty years in prison, and Ramon can now sleep peacefully.
7) The Daniel Ott Oddity of Ohio
Police were baffled by the murder of Daniel Ott in 2006 in the small village of Burton Township, as there appeared to be no motive for the heinous crime. But after a decade of investigation, the truth finally emerged. A contract k”ller had murdered Ott, and the culprit was identified as Chad South, one of the worst h*tmen in history. The investigation revealed that criminal Joe Rosebrook had promised South $10,000 to k*ll a police informant named Daniel Ott. However, South and two accomplices mistakenly targeted the wrong man as the victim was 31 years old, whereas the intended target was 69. During the struggle, Ott was killed. In 2016, a judge sentenced Rosebrook to life imprisonment for the m*rder of the innocent Daniel Ott.
6) Balenga Kalala’s K*ller with a Conscience
In 2004, Noela Rukundo moved from Burundi to Australia where she met and married Balenga Kalala. However, when Noela went to visit her homeland in 2015, she was kidnapped by h*tmen. The kidnappers revealed that it was her own husband who had paid them to k*ll her. Fortunately, the hitmen did not have the heart to go through with the m*rder, and instead, they gave Noela the evidence of her husband’s guilt.
Noela then returned to Australia, where she surprised her husband on the day of her own funeral. Balenga was tried and sentenced to nine years in prison, but no clear motive has ever been established. Noela’s story is a remarkable tale of survival and justice.
5) Bart Whitaker’s Quest for the Cash
Thomas “Bart” Whitaker grew up in a privileged environment, surrounded by a loving family and a comfortable lifestyle. However, Bart’s desire for wealth and inheritance led him down a dark path. He first attempted a m*rder-for-hire plot in 2000, but it fell through.
Undeterred, he made several more attempts over the years, recruiting acquaintances, schoolmates, and coworkers to carry out the m*rders. Despite several people reporting his behavior to authorities and family members, no action was taken.
In 2003, Bart resorted to desperate measures and hired his roommate Christopher Brashear to k*ll his family. However, the plan was botched, leaving Bart’s father alive. Fleeing to Mexico, Bart was eventually captured and sentenced to death in Texas. In 2018, his sentence was commuted, and he will spend the rest of his life in prison. His father still visits him regularly, a haunting reminder of the son who once tried to have him k*lled.
4) David Harris Went from Creative to Convicted
David Harris, once a successful television producer for the British hit series The Bill, is now serving time in prison for soliciting the m*rder of his partner, Hazel Allinson. Harris, who had fallen in love with a younger woman, wanted to get rid of Hazel to gain control of her estate.
Over the course of 2016, he hired three different hitmen to k*ll her, but all of them failed. The first disappeared, the second went to the police, and the third was an undercover officer in a sting operation.
Harris was found guilty and sentenced to 17 years in prison, but he claimed that he was conducting research for an upcoming novel at the time of his arrest. However, the novel was never published, leaving many to believe it was just an excuse for his heinous actions.
3) Frank Howard’s Tangled Texas M*rder Plot
After more than 30 years of marriage, Frank and Nancy Howard appeared content. However, Frank’s infidelity with a younger woman led him to opt for a different solution than a messy divorce: he would have his wife m*rdered instead. Frank paid a criminal clan over $2 million over two years to carry out the hit, but unbeknownst to him, the supposed hitmen were actually con artists who were taking his money.
This scheme involved many of the criminals’ associates and family members who also profited from Frank’s cash. Despite his embezzling more than $30 million from his employer to support his drug-related activities and lavish lifestyle for his mistress,
Frank remained clueless about the scheme. Things took a turn for the worse when there was an actual attempt on Nancy’s life, but she managed to survive and later appeared in court. Frank was sentenced to life imprisonment, lost his mistress, and was forced to go through with the divorce he had always feared.
2) Jennifer Pan Lands in Hot Water
Jennifer Pan was brought up by two diligent Vietnamese immigrants who had high expectations for their daughter’s success. On the surface, she seemed to be meeting those expectations, having secured a scholarship to the University of Toronto and embarking on a respectable career.
However, her life soon began to unravel when her parents discovered that everything she had presented to them was a fabrication: she had no degree, no job, and no prospects. In an attempt to extricate herself from this situation, she resorted to hom*cide. With the help of her long-term boyfriend, Daniel Wong, they plotted the attack and promised to pay some acquaintances to carry out the m*rder.
Although they tried to make the crime appear as a home invasion, Pan’s father survived the attack and later testified against her and four accomplices, leading to their conviction for m*rder. Jennifer Pan now serves a life sentence in prison, while her father lives as a free man.
1 )Michelle Gaiser’s Twisted Love Triangle
Loving Michelle Gaiser comes with a heavy price. In 2008, Gaiser began an extramarital relationship with Jeffrey Stern, a married attorney. However, things spiraled out of control when a jealous Gaiser ordered a hit on Jeffrey’s wife, Yvonne. Despite the first attempt failing, Gaiser was undeterred and hired two more hitmen to finish the job. Miraculously, Yvonne survived all three attempts, even after being shot in the stomach.
Initially, prosecutors suspected Jeffrey was complicit in the m*rder plot. Gaiser was offered a plea deal in exchange for her testimony against him. However, the case collapsed when authorities discovered that Gaiser had attempted to hire yet another hitman to assassinate Jeffrey. Although she was not charged for this crime, it led to the dismissal of the charges against Jeffrey in 2013. Gaiser was sentenced to 20 years in prison.