Murder in Boston: Killers and Their Victims
| Date | 01 January 1982 |
| Published date | 01 January 1982 |
| Author | Nicholas D. Rizzo |
| DOI | 10.1177/0306624X8202600106 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
36
Murder
in
Boston:
Killers
and
Their
Victims
Nicholas
D.
Rizzo
MURDER
in
Boston
occurs
frequently
for
pay.
The
killer
does
a
job
which
brings
him
money-large
amounts
of
it-and
the
killing
may
be
an
incidental
event
or a
contractual
chore.
In
either
case,
it
is
murder
for
pay.
The
single
most
common
motive,
seen
in
a
review
of
examinations
of
offenders
performed
in
the
20
years
from
1958
to
1978
at
the
Suffolk
Superior
Court
Clinic,
was
associated
with
monetary
gain.
The
death
of
the
victim
meant
remuneration
for the
killer.
In
45
of
the
73
cases
examined
the
victim
was
merely
an
obstacle
to
be
removed-a
truck
driver,
a
guard
on
duty,
a
police
officer,
or
a
merchant.
In
other
cases
the
killer
was
a
&dquo;hired
gun&dquo;
who
had
agreed
to
kill
for
a
fee.
Within
recent
years,
the
gangland
style
execution
has
no
longer
fallen
within
our
purview,
and
the
Court
Clinic
is
by-passed.
During
the
Spring
of
1979,
five
murders
were
committed
in
the
office
of
a
well
known
night
club.
The
victims’
heads
were
blown
off
by
shot
gun
blasts.
Two
men
were
charged,
but
later
acquitted.
Neither
the
defendants
nor
the
witnesses
were
examined
in
the
Court
Clinic.
If
one
keeps
in
mind
that
the
chief
reason
for
the
referral
of
an
accused
murderer
is
to
determine
competency
to
stand
trial,
or
com-
petency
to
enter
a
plea,
the
logic
of
avoiding
involvement
with
the
business
aspect
of
murder
becomes
clear.
Accordingly,
the
question
of
competency
in
hired
killers
or
armed
robbers
is
not
of
practical
clinical
significance.
Of
the
group
under
review,
204
of
243
charged
with
having
committed
murder,
before
any
plea
bargaining
was
entered
into,
were
found
competent
to
stand
trial.
Of
the
39,
only
seven
were
known
to
be
suffering
from
chronic
and
profound
emotional
dis-
orders.
The
others
were
acutely
intoxicated
by
either
alcohol
or
drugs;
these
conditions,
however,
are
no
longer
considered
excul-
patory
in
the
criminal
justice
system.
One
may
note
from
Table
1
that
murderers
range
in
age
from
14
to 67
for
males,
the
median
age
being
26.
For
females
the
range
is
from
17
to
52;
the
median
age
was
25.
Methods
of
Study
The
routine
functioning
of
the
criminal
justice
system
in
Massa-
chusetts
includes
a
psychiatric
examination
of
all
persons
accused
ot
murder
in
order
to
determine
competency
to
stand
trial
or
competency
to
enter
a
plea.
This
usually
involves
one
to
three
hours
of
psychiatric
interviewing
during
which
mental
status,
as
well
as
an
appraisal
of
the
defendent’s
grasp
of
his
legal
dilemma
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