Murder committed to prevent the exercise of legal rights is a particularly aggravating feature that places the offending very high on the scale for murder, with some analogy to contract killing. A sentence of 25 years for the instigator who pleaded guilty was described as 'merciful'. Sentencing differentials between an instigator who pleaded guilty and perpetrators who did not are not necessarily disproportionate, even where the instigator may bear greater moral culpability.
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