죽여달라는 부탁을 받고 의뢰인을 살해한 경우 어떤 수준의 형량이 적절할 것인가.

세계는 이 희한한 사건에 재판부가 어떤 판결을 내릴지 주목하고 있다.

미 콜로라도 경찰은 19세 나탈리 볼린저 양을 살해한 혐의로 조셉 로페즈를 체포했다. 그러나 용의자 조셉 로페즈는 그가 단지 피해자 본인을 살해 해달라는 의뢰에 응했을 뿐이라며 범죄 사실을 부인하고 나섰다.

경찰 진술서에 의하면 로페즈가 이 해괴한 의뢰에 응한 이유는 본인도 우울증을 앓았고 고교시절 자살 충동을 느낀적이 있어 그가 도움이 될 수 있다고 생각했기 때문이라고 했다는 것이다.

조셉 로페즈는 경찰 진술에서 그가 살해하기 직전까지도 볼린저 양을 자살의 늪에서 구하려고 노력했으나, 그녀의 의지가 워낙 확고해 어쩔 수 없는 선택이었다고 전했다.

진술서에 따르면 그들은 한적한 곳으로 함께 이동한 뒤 기도를 한 후 로페즈가 볼린저 양 머리 뒤에 그녀가 직접 건내 준 9mm 권총을 쏘았다고 한다.

친구들과 주변 지인들은 과거 볼린저 양이 자살 충동을 느낀적은 있었으나 직접적으로 자살을 암시하거나 유서를 남기지는 않았고 사망 하루 전 일자리를 구하는 등 과연 이번 죽음이 ‘자살’인지에 대한 의문을 제기하고 있다고 밝혔다.

한편 볼린저 양의 사체는 그녀가 살던 브룸필드와 다소 거리가 있는 아담스 카운티에서 발견 됬다.

현재 로페즈는 1급 살인죄로 기소되어 아담스 카운티 교도소에서 수감 중이며, 재판을 기다리고 있다.
[위키리크스한국= 임현민 기자]



A Colorado man accused of killing 19-year-old Natalie Marie Bollinger told police he shot her after he replied to her Craigslist ad seeking a hitman — for herself, investigators said in court documents obtained Monday.

But before the killing, the man, Joseph Michael Lopez, 22, tried to talk her out of suicide, he told Adams County deputies, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by NBC News. After he failed to change her mind, they went for a drive and stopped by the side of the road, where they said a prayer together as Lopez knelt on the ground beside Bollinger and shot her once in the back of the head with a 9mm firearm, according to the affidavit.

Lopez said he used a gun that Bollinger gave him, which she said he could keep as payment, according to the affidavit.

The body of Bollinger, who lived in Broomfield, was found Dec. 29 in an unincorporated area of Adams County, east of Boulder, Broomfield police said. Lopez was being held without bail Monday in the Adams County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder pending a court hearing Wednesday, according to court records.

Investigators said Lopez told them last Thursday that he was browsing the "Women Seeking Men" section of Craigslist when he stopped on an "unusual post" with the title "I want to put a hit on myself." The Adams County Sheriff's Office wouldn't confirm that such an ad had been placed, a spokesman told NBC News on Monday.

According to the arrest affidavit, Lopez said that he replied to the ad because he had suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts when he was in high school and thought he could help.

But Bollinger couldn't be persuaded, he said, telling investigators that she said she wanted to be executed from behind so she wouldn't see the gun and that she "wanted it to happen quickly," according to the arrest affidavit.

Joseph Michael Lopez, 22, was held without bond pending a first-degree murder charge in the death of Natalie Bollinger, 19, of Broomfield, Colorado. Adams County Sheriff's Office

Friends and relatives told investigators that Bollinger had a history of suicidal thoughts, according to the affidavit. But they said they had found no suicide note or any other communication indicating that she wanted to take her own life, it said. In fact, the affidavit said, she had applied for a job on Dec. 28, the day before she was killed.

Adams County Sheriff Michael McIntosh said Friday, when the arrest was announced, that Lopez was tracked down through dozens of text messages on Bollinger's cellphone.

"A 19-year-old's phone, there's a lot of data there," McIntosh said.

When investigators called to arrange an interview, Lopez "made the comment that he thought he might know why" they were calling, McIntosh said.

According to the arrest affidavit, "Joseph Lopez did tell us that it was eating away at him and that several times he felt like just calling the police himself and confessing to shooting Natalie Bollinger."

McIntosh said Friday that no one else is believed to have been involved.

6677sky@naver.com