Over the course of his career as a fake contract killer, Gary Johnson received dozens of requests to murder spouses, coworkers, and even parents. What his clients didn’t know was that he was an undercover cop.
Andrew carruth / Alamy Stock PhotoFor year , Gary Johnson was the most seek - after “ hitman ” in Houston .
To many who knew him , Gary Johnson was a quiet man who lived a individual and largely uneventful life in Houston , Texas . He instruct residential district college form on psychology and human sexuality and spent his free time at abode taking care of his garden and his computed tomography , I d and Ego .
But in reality , he was an hole-and-corner groin sitting as a hired assassin .
Andrew carruth / Alamy Stock PhotoFor years, Gary Johnson was the most sought-after “hitman” in Houston.
Over the course of his ten - long career , Johnson helped police halt over 60 people attempting to hire a paid bravo , becoming the most famous undercover “ hitman ” in the city .
Described as a Chamaeleon and “ the Laurence Olivier of the field ” of mole employment , Johnson developed a range of aliases and complex personas for himself — and had a endowment for get people to speak .
This is the story of the real Gary Johnson behind the 2024 Richard Linklater movieHit Man .
NetflixA scene from Netflix’sHit Man, a fictional account of Gary Johnson’s life as a fake hitman.
The Early Life Of Gary Johnson
Gary Johnson was raise in rural Louisiana by his carpenter father and housewife female parent . By all accounts , he had a normal and subdued puerility .
Johnson get under one’s skin his first taste of law enforcement in Vietnam , where he spend a year working as a military policeman . Afterward , he in brief worked as a sheriff ’s deputy in Louisiana .
Then , in the 1970s , he submit on some work as an undercover mole for a Texas police section , helping authorities bust drug dealers — and he discovered he was very good at it .
Matt Lankes / NetflixGary Johnson moonlighted as a community college professor.
“ I do n’t suppose the drug dealer ever suspect I might be a pig because my personality was so weird to start with , ” Johnson toldTexas Monthlyin 2001 .
NetflixA scene from Netflix’sHit Man , a fictional story of Gary Johnson ’s life as a fake hitman .
Although Johnson parade a bent for mole oeuvre , he ab initio showed picayune involvement in jurisprudence enforcement . His real aspiration was to learn college - tier psychology row .
NetflixGary Johnson sometimes developed elaborate personas for himself while posing as a hitman, though he reportedly found disguises unnecessary.
Johnson received a master ’s degree in psychological science from McNeese State University in Louisiana and travel to Houston in 1981 , hoping to recruit in the University of Houston ’s psychology doctorial political platform .
Although he was unfortunately reject , Johnson decided to remain in Houston and take up a job as an investigator for the territory attorney ’s government agency .
It was through this job that Johnson stumbled into the life of a fake hitman .
NetflixThe real Gary Johnson never had a romantic relationship with one of his clients.
Gary Johnson’s Journey To Becoming A Fake Hitman
In 1989 , the Houston Police Department invite a crown that Kathy Scott , a 37 - yr - old science laboratory technician , was searching for a shooter who could take out her husband .
The department reached out to the district attorney ’s office to enquire if anyone there speciate inmurder - for - hire cases . Immediately , middle fall on Gary Johnson .
“ Gary , you ’re our strike man , ” his boss told him , according toTexas Monthly .
Johnson was eager at the prospect and even repair a fake name and persona for himself . He decide on Mike Caine and began mould himself into a elusive - looking biker , don rip jeans and a silver skull chain around his neck .
Matt Lankes / NetflixGary Johnson moonlight as a biotic community college prof .
Johnson and Scott agreed to play at a bowling alley . There , Scott gave “ Caine ” a picture of her married man , along with operating instructions for the hit .
“ The gross spot , ” she told Johnson , was a nearby predominantly Black neighborhood her husband frequently drove through . “ It ’s a drug harbour . ”
She offered Johnson $ 2,500 for the job , and he take . “ Are you sure you want this sucker killed ? ” he asked her .
“ Yeah , ” she responded . Moments subsequently , the law arrived to arrest her .
Johnson later testified at Scott ’s run that she had not really wanted her husband murdered and had just gotten carried aside . But that did n’t stop the jury from sentencing her to 80 years in prison for the murder - for - hire plot .
The case launched Johnson to inter - departmental stardom . before long , constabulary departments across Texas were request his hole-and-corner services .
A Unique And Fruitful Career Path
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s , Gary Johnson continue working as an undercover hitman while moonlight as a psychology and human gender prof at a local community college .
Johnson ’s next hustle involved a 31 - year - old oil color rig proletarian named Roberts Holliday . Holliday had reportedly confide in a braless dancer that his wife had go out him for another man . He then require the dancer to find him someone to belt down his alienated wife so that he could get full custody of their children .
Instead , the dancer passed this entropy on to the police , who notified Gary Johnson . Posing as a hitman , Johnson swallow a $ 2,500 fee from Holliday to make it await like Holliday ’s married woman died by suicide while Holliday was away act upon on a rig offshore . They shook hand . police force officers swarm the scene .
Another other customer , 32 - year - old Katherine Beisel , need Johnson to down her marital lover for decline to leave his wife for her .
Some of the more disturbing case include a father who asked Johnson to pour down his wife and infant child so that he could collect on life insurance policy policies and become a private investigator ; and a high school student who extend Johnson video games and loose variety in exchange for killing a rival classmate .
Johnson even nabbed an 11 - year veteran police policeman who want to pour down his ex-husband - married woman for costing him too much in baby support .
NetflixGary Johnson sometimes developed elaborate personas for himself while stick as a gunman , though he reportedly found camouflage unnecessary .
In Johnson ’s most famed character , he was rent by a wealthy woman refer Lynn Kilroy , the former vice chairman of the Houstonaires Republican Women .
Kilroy had confided in a friend that she hat her hubby , oil business leader Billy Kilroy , but did not require to divorce him . After all , the couple portion out million of dollars and an babe son – and Kilroy did not require any of that to skid through her finger .
So she got in contact lens with Gary Johnson , or “ Chris , ” as she knew him . The two speak in a hotel antechamber about her desire to kill her husband .
The woman handed Johnson $ 200,000 in jewelry as payment for the hit , say him “ do what you necessitate to do . ” The next day , Lynn Kilroy ’s name was all over the local written document , and her die plot was revealed to the world .
“ It was the same honest-to-god account , ” Johnson toldThe Washington Postin 2001 . “ The rich require more , the poor want more . We all want more . Too much is never enough . ”
Gary Johnson ’s case call for housewives , bookkeeper , church - leaver , and even an Elvis impersonator . From Johnson ’s linear perspective , no one was resistant to the shocking appeal of a hitman — someone who could make their problems go aside in an instant .
“ My people have spent their living inhabit within the law , ” he order . “ A destiny of them have never even gotten a dealings slate . Yet they have developed such a foiling with their place in the world that they believe they have no other option but to wipe out whoever is causing their frustration .
“ They are all looking for the quick fix , which has become the American way . Today mass can pay to get their televisions fix and their garbage picked up , so why ca n’t they pay me , a rack up man , to fix their living ? ”
Gary Johnson Hits Hollywood
NetflixThe real Gary Johnson never had a romantic human relationship with one of his clients .
The wild story of Gary Johnson eventually catch the attention of Hollywood producers . In 2024 , a film inspired by Johnson ’s animation , titledHit Man , arrive at the big concealment . Directed by Richard Linklater , the photographic film follow a fictionalized version of Gary Johnson , played by Glen Powell , as he goes from an unassuming college professor to New Orleans ’ most attempt - after fake triggerman .
While the motion picture shows Johnson engaging in a muggy kinship with one of his guest , the real Johnson made it clear that he had never prosecute amatory relations in any of his cases — though he admitted he get offers .
In 1996 , Johnson suffer with a 61 - year - old charwoman discover Patsy Haggard , who was intent on ingest her hubby killed . Haggard reportedly became infatuate with her “ hitman . ” During one meeting , she even offer to perform a gender act on Johnson on the hood of her Cadillac — a hint Johnson declined .
However , the romance in the film is loosely based on one of Johnson ’s existent lawsuit , in which a young woman trapped in an abusive relationship feel that she had no alternative but to have her maltreater wipe out in club to get out of the situation .
Instead of organise a sting against the woman , Johnson refer her to social services and set her up in a women ’s shelter .
“ The peachy collide with man in Houston has just turned lenient , ” a reporter fromTexas Monthlyjoked about the case .
“ Just this once , ” Johnson reply .
Johnson ’s experience as a hitman chair him to distrust others and live a relatively only life .
“ I only trust stagnant mass and my enemy , because I live where they stand , ” he explained . It ’s your ally , relatives , confrere , and lovers , he said , that “ purloin up and cut you . ”
In his personal biography , Johnson was divorced three times and was described by his students as soft - mannered . He cared deeply for his two cats — I d and Ego — and tended to his garden . He was your fair man with a not - so - median life history .
To some of his coworkers , it was like Johnson could flip a switch when it came to his piece of work .
“ He ’s the perfect Chamaeleon , ” said Houston lawyer Michael Hinton , one of Johnson ’s former supervisors . “ Gary is a truly great performer who can reverse into whatever he want to be in whatever situation he find himself . He never gets fluster , and he never says the wrong thing . He ’s somehow able to carry people who are rich and not so rich , successful and not so successful , that he ’s the real thing . He fritter them every time . ”
Gary Johnson buy the farm in 2022 . For those who really acknowledge him , he was one of a kind .
After study about fake gunslinger Gary Johnson , dive into the account of thedeadliest mafia hitmen in chronicle . Then , meetCharles Harrelson , Woody Harrelson ’s fatherwho worked as a hitman .
