Contract killing is a sign that you don't have the balls and imagination enough to do it yourself. If you want something done right, you either go to a professional or you do it yourself. And professionals don't shop for 'customers' on Craigslist. In fact, 'assassin' or 'hitman' are pretty much trained and KEPT within organizations, as opposed to be freewheeling entrepreneurs. Because in order to get away with it, you NEED people to cover your ass, or sanction you to KEEP you from getting revenge killed.

There is no shadowy cabal of killers for hire. That's a cinema conceit. If you want someone in the ground, best be prepared to plan and do it your own damn self. But please, be loud about it first, because that totes won't call attention to it.

Not gonna lie, when my divorce was rolling, I had some pretty damn dark thoughts towards my wife and the former best friend she used to force things along. And as a chef, I've got access to a plethora of chemicals, chopping and flensing utensils, industrial grade ovens, and a LOT of plastic bags, and there are plenty of rivers, ponds and lakes to distribute bits in the area. But killing someone for being a selfish assh*le...that leaves a lot of folks on that list, and you can mull it around in your head all you want, but taking that action...that's not something you can walk back. And going to kill someone because they piss you off, while having zero impact in your life other than existing and having different beliefs...you are just looking for a way to be a victim and nestle yourself in a cocoon of justification for pulling a trigger on yourself. Because that's how it ends. Eventually. He just wanted the credit for the try, and sympathy for when he failed. And to show that he was willing to try, because...most folks just don't give in to their darker thoughts. He is just a failed romantic who wants to be seen and heard, and looking for that snatch of recognition, with a lashing or two of self righteousness to make it seem, to himself at least, that he was different.

We really NEED to get mental health care on the card when we talk about health care, because making it available and easy to get to...it might just save more folks from stewing in their own thoughts, and coming up with clever plans like this. Well, that and maybe looking at a public safety net that can ease some of that anxiety for the future too. And invest in education so that folks might be able to recognize when they're gamboling down that particularly dark garden path. It always seems to come back to folks feeling safe and secure to curb violence. People who are healthy and safe don't go out looking for trouble or to make a name for themselves like this, and they want to make a name for themselves because they are damn sure that they don't matter right now. It would be really nice if we'd focus on the root causes and get folks the help they need long before they get to this point. Even the assh*les, because chances are, they're assh*les because they didn't get the help they desperately needed.