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Two North Carolina men who allegedly set up shop as international hitmen have been arrested after allegedly travelling to the Philippines to carry out a contract killing, leaving a woman dead on a rubbish pile before collecting a portion of their US$35,000 fee.
An indictment unsealed in US District Court in New York City charged Adam Samia and Carl David Stillwell in the early 2012 killing of the Filipino woman.
Prosecutors said the woman was shot multiple times in the face before she was dumped on a rubbish heap.
"After their contract killing, they allegedly covered their tracks by conspiring to launder the blood money back to the United States," Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a release. He said the men were arrested in Roxboro, North Carolina.
Samia, 41, and Stillwell, 47, were due to appear court in Greensboro, North Carolina later on Thursday.
Each was charged with conspiracy to kidnap and murder in the Philippines, discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and conspiracy to launder the proceeds of committing murder-for-hire. The person who allegedly hired the men was not named in the indictment.
The case is connected to an earlier high-profile prosecution in New York involving an international team of military-trained contract killers led by a former US Army sniper instructor nicknamed "Rambo".
In that case, the instructor, Joseph Manuel Hunter, was accused of recruiting former US and European soldiers to carry out killings for the purported leaders of a Colombian drug cartel, later revealed to be undercover US drug enforcement informants running a sting operation.
Though Wednesday's indictment does not mention Hunter by name, it was filed in federal court as part of the Hunter case and assigned to the same judge. Hunter pleaded guilty in February and faces up to life in prison at sentencing. Four other former soldiers also pleaded guilty.
Prosecutors said Samia and Stillwell agreed in 2011 and early 2012 to carry out contract killings in exchange for monthly salaries and bonus payments for each victim. They killed the Filipino woman on February 12, 2012 and then each collected a portion of the US$35,000 fee before sending the money to the US in increments of less than US$10,000, prosecutors said.
Additional reporting by Reuters


American hitmen 'shot dead woman' in Philippines in contract killing

Adam Samia (above), 41, and Carl David Stillwell, 47, were arrested at their homes in Roxboro, North Carolina. Photo: Facebook

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