Kalistan

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Mankiewicz is shot outside of Sulari Municipal Court House
Assassin is apprehended within 6 hours
Sulari, Duchy of Suldanor
May 13, 5692


Municipal Court House in Sulari is locked down as police actively searched area for shooter in yesterday's killing

The man convicted of planting a car bomb in an attempted assassination on Her Imperial Majesty's Justice Minister, the Hon. Gale Wilson has been himself gunned down as he was arriving for sentencing. The assassin, later identified as David Kohl, from Sulari was himself located within six hours and was apprehended by police. From a position overlooking the entrance to the court house some 1800 feet away, Mr. Kohl is alleged to have fired two bullets from a high powered scoped rifle. One struck a police man in the leg, seriously injuring him, while the second struck Mr. Karl "Manny" Mankiewicz in the head, killing him instantly.

Spokesmen for the Sulari Special Investigations Division, who are overseeing the expanding probe of organized crime in the city, announced last week that Mankiewicz had decided to start identifying individuals in court, hoping to reduce his sentence on King's Rock, and would testify under oath during his sentencing as an effort to show his cooperation with the State's investigation. At that time, says Captain Alberto Zarate, who is leading the investigation, it would appear that those who had contracted Mr. Mankiewicz turned to another assassin to prevent Mr. Mankiewicz from testifying during the sentencing trial.

"Mr. Mankiewicz may have been silenced today, but the people who murdered this man in the streets of our city should know: It's too late. He had already provided names of those who contacted him, and those who paid him." said Zarate in a brief statement to the press surrounding his murder. "Whoever pulled the trigger today will similarly be brought to justice with as much zeal and effort as we put into the prosecution of Mr. Mankiewicz, because while that assassin may have ended the life of a convicted criminal, they also murdered a Kalistani citizen and a veteran, and we cannot allow violence and vigilantism to reign in the streets of our nation's largest city."

Zarate said the names he got from Mankiewicz, combined with testimony of other criminal defendants in this case certainly point to the existence of more than just an small time local crime racket, but a whole network of criminality organized into something like a Mafia. "We want to be careful how we characterize it," said Zarate. "Mafia suggests some kind of link with Istalia, as it suggests a meaning of swagger and braggadocio. But this organized crime syndicate appears more and more every day to be run by Yeudi interests here in Kalistan. It is homegrown, it is pernicious, and it is brazen. And it appears to be behind what we've been investigating now for more than a year."

The identification of the violence in Sulari with Yeudi actors drew immediate comment from the Antantonese Yeudi Interest Committee, who issued a statement following the death of Mr. Mankiewicz. "(AYIC) takes this moment to warn the Government of the Free City of Sulari against overly associating this string of criminality with the Yeudi population in Kalistan. Yeudis are hard working, socially upstanding, law abiding and loyal citizens of this Empire. We as a community tend to be more conservative than the average Kalistani and more directly supportive of the Monarchy and House Ananto. We have had a very good and long standing relationship with the Royal family for centuries. And AYIC would not like to see the actions of this group of individuals blacken the reputation of the entire community, who as a whole want nothing to do with these criminals. AYIC will offer whatever cooperation is appropriate to assist, but we also explicitly state that we do not tolerate any association with organized crime or illicit earnings, and will reject any attempt by criminal elements, if they exist to influence the behavior or activities of the AYIC."

The statement continued to plea for funds from members, saying that many of AYIC's main supporters have been "a bit less generous" in giving since AYIC was mentioned in the same sentence with the banking scandals of last year. "Representing Yeudi interests at home and abroad is growing very expensive, and your support is needed now more than ever. Tsuzamen kenen mir gevinen dem zig far ale aundzere mentshn!" Public records bear this out, but seem to suggest that individual donations for AYIC fell off significantly more than 10 years ago, and much of AYIC budget is now covered by investment revenue from many of the operations overseen by the Bookmakers' Association in Sulari and elsewhere. More than 85% of the operations budget of AYIC used to be covered by Individual donations, while now Individual donations cover only 23%, forcing the organization to find additional funding from other sources. Those scrutinizing AYIC audits have found no improprieties in the budgets, and AYIC as an organization is not a subject of the investigation.

Mr. Kohl, the assassin in this story, will be held pending indictment, and then will likely be tried in the same court building he prevented the now late Mr. Mankiewicz from entering. The injured police officer is reportedly recovering after emergency surgery saved his leg, and is expected to make a full recovery.

@TheRepublic