ABSTRACT
If a victim is to be executed after days, weeks or months of negotiation, this normally occurs after the ransom is collected. Sufficient proof of the victim’s well-being has been received by the family or organization, funds have been prepared and delivered, and the victim never returns or is later found dead. The trauma, self-examination and recrimination that such a sequence of events can cause are indescribable. Everyone seeks someone to blame; moral persons have difficulty accepting the fact that there are truly evil people in the world who will commit such crimes without a second thought. Fortunately, this represents a small fraction of all kidnappings worldwide; there would be no business to conduct if too many victims were executed.
