NEW YORK: A former US Army sniper and two other ex-soldiers have been convicted in New York for the contract killing of a woman in the Philippines.

A federal jury on Wednesday found Joseph Hunter, of Owensboro, Kentucky, and Adam Samia and Carl David Stillwell, both of Roxboro, North Carolina, guilty of committing murder-for-hire and other charges.

Prosecutors said Hunter recruited the two for the cold-blooded hit on the Filipino real estate agent in 2012. He paid them each $35,000.

The 12-day trial offered a window into the clandestine world of private mercenaries willing to kill for money.

Defence attorneys had said the case was too weak to convict them. All three face up to life in prison.

Hunter already is serving 20 years over a plot to kill a federal agent.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2018