A study by Birmingham University (UK) on 36 Brit hit men (and one woman) was done by off the record interviews, meetings with offenders and court records. They found the following:

• Most hits were carried out for fairly mundane reasons. Business relations gone sour, or domestic disputes.
• The average cost of hiring a hit-man was £15,180 ($25,056). The cheapest was £200 ($330) and the most expensive £100,000 ($165,000).
• The oldest hit man was 63, the youngest a 15 year old.
• There was a wide spread in ability of killers. The best have never been brought to justice, such as the killer of “gangland boss” Frank Mcphee who was taken down with a .22 rifle bullet. The less ruthless include legal clerk Orville Wright, who entered his target’s home armed with a knife but was talked out of the deed by his victim.
• Te Rangimaria Ngarimu, a Maori who lived in London, is the only known female contract killer. It took two attempts to kill her victim (the second as he lay in hospital). She fled to New Zealand, but returned to the UK to confess.

For more insights, including weapons used and why a 10-year old boy was intentionally shot, head on over here

Source: The Guardian