Gizmodo: hitman

Giz Tip: Don't Hire A Hit Man via Text Message

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST

Oklahoma native and rebellious speller Tonia Mullins, in a spectacular act of self-incrimination, used text messages to contact a hit man to "take care" of her lover's wife. Mullins conspired with her beau, Army soldier Michael Andrew Crawford, to have the poor Mrs. Crawford killed and her insurance money used to buy Mullins and her beau a nice house. Thankfully, Mullins was far too stupid to actually hurt anybody, and the text messages are absolutely priceless.

The texts are written in a hybrid of English, texting shorthand, and whatever English-like language they speak in Oklahoma, so I can't 100% translate all of them. I can say that they are way less subtle than you'd expect from somebody trying to hire an assassin. This exchange I particularly don't understand:

Co-conspirator Robin Berry: "Well maybe I can het friend n trade something he owes me big favors anyway"
Tonia Mullins: "If I can do ne thang let me know. Robin I swear I will give the $ when it comes n ... that is n no way a problem ... as long as accident I."

Mullins had asked her friend, Robin Berry, to help her contact a hit man, and the two got no further than discussing price between themselves before the police were tipped off and the whole silly enterprise ended. An undercover agent with the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation arrested Mullins and her co-conspirators easily, and the deliciously inept plotters plead guilty earlier this month. [Wired]

Dealzmodo: Hitman on iTunes Unintentionally Free

Jason Chen — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:40:56 EDT

We were among the 10 people to actually see this videogame-to-movie adaptation in the theaters, but now you can watch it for free in your own home thanks to a mis-price by iTunes. Just follow the instructions after the jump and you'll be able to download all 1.09 GB of bald gunplay for yourself, all for the price of a pat on the back. Even if you don't enjoy it, there is some boobage a couple times in the movie, which makes this deal groundbreaking—because where else can you see boobs on the internet?

Well, thanks to our readers found the tip to get this movie completely free. In iTunes, click iTunes store, look for the "Browse" on Quick Links in the right hand side. Than, select "Movies" and then "Thriller". Look for the title "Hitman". You will see it is free (as pictured above) for the whole version at 1.06GB. I can download it and watch it successfully. Not sure whether it is something new or a bug of iTunes.

[WinAndMac via Macenstein]

Boy Pays Hitman to Off His Parents After Taking His Playstation Away

Adrian Covert — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:45:08 EST

16-year-old Cory Ryder is awaiting trial for hiring a hitman to whack his parents because they took away his PlayStation. But the man paid to do the job wasn't a hitman, but an undercover cop...hired by the kid's mother.

Ryder caught a ride from his mom's friend to go meet the "hitman," and offered up his stepdad's pickup as payment. He was quickly taken into custody where he is being held for attempted murder. While I'm sure every "parents with too much free time" group will use this to pin all of society's problems on videogames, Ryder's commitment to his PlayStation cannot be questioned. [The Times UK via PS3 Forums]