U.S. citizen and former U.S. Army member Joseph Manuel Hunter, 52, of Owensboro, Kentucky, and two co-defendants, U.S. citizens Adam Samia, 43, and Carl David Stillwell, 50, both of Roxboro, North Carolina, were convicted by a federal jury for their roles in a murder-for-hire scheme in the Philippines.
The defendants were convicted of one count of conspiring to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison; one count of committing murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison; one count of conspiring to murder and kidnap in a foreign country; and one count of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Hunter, Samia, and Stillwell conspired to commit murders-for-hire in overseas locations in exchange for salaries and bonus payments for each victim. In early 2012, Samia and Stillwell traveled from North Carolina to the Philippines, where Hunter provided them with information about their intended victims and firearms to use to commit the murders.
On February 12, 2012, Samia and Stillwell killed one of their intended victims, a Filipino woman, by shooting her multiple times in the face. Hunter paid Samia and Stillwell $35,000 each for completing the murder, and Samia and Stillwell sent thousands of dollars from the payments they received to the United States using structured wire transfers in amounts under $10,000.
Hunter, Samia, and Stillwell were scheduled to be sentenced on September 7, 2018, and September 14, 2018, respectively, before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams of the Southern District of New York.
Hunter, a former U.S. Army member, served from 1983 to 2004 and attained the rank of sergeant first class. He was a sniper instructor and trained soldiers in marksmanship and tactics as a senior drill sergeant.
Samia is a self-described ‘Personal Protection/Security Industry’ professional who has worked as an ‘Independent Contractor’ for clients in various countries, including the Philippines, China, Papua New Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo. Stillwell purported to have training and experience in the field of information technology and worked at a firm in North Carolina that provides firearms training.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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