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Gunman with Three Names

 Gunman with Three Names
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 Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names
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GunmanWithThreeNames
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For reasons that are not entirely clear even to themselves, news media in the United States (print as well as television) go out of their way to make sure every lone gunman and solitary crazed killer is identified by his full name, regardless of how he is called by relatives, friends, and neighbors.
According to at least one broadcast journalism writing textbook, the reason for this is that a person is more likely to have the same two-part name as someone else than the same three-part name. So it lets John Henry Booth or Mark Lindsay Chapman not have to wonder why everyone is looking at him funny. TV reporters also generally read the police report verbatim, figuring they can't be sued for slander if they merely report what is in a public document. Also note that this might be an American thing—in most European countries, middle names aren't that common, or used even if people have them, and people in Hispanic countries often have four names. Naming conventions in non-western countries are a whole different topic altogether. Furthermore, in many European countries, middle name is often associated with sophistication, so it usually does not suit common criminals, though it can be a part of a Professional Killer's image.
Note that this isn't the case for just any handgun-wielding punk who makes the news. It takes a special crime that catches the public's attention. "Ordinary" shooters—as well as the rare sympathetic figure—are accorded less formal (and less obsessive) address by the media.
An interesting case in point would be that of New York City's so-called "Subway Vigilante" in 1984. When his actions were still viewed as a shocking unmotivated attack, the news media consistently referred to him by his full name, "Bernhard Hugo Goetz". However, as his story came out and public opinion shifted more and more in his favor, the news programs began calling him just "Bernhard Goetz" and finally "Bernie".
The quoted assertion is false, as John Wayne Gacy/Sirhan Sirhan demonstrate. Jerry comments on the latter himself, but it's worth noting that Sirhan was an Israeli-born Arab.
Also note that none of them has an Embarrassing Middle Name. (Then again, would you really laugh at someone about to kill you?)
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DBTropes
 Gunman with Three Names / int_12b12556
type
Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_12b12556
comment
In The Bourne Identity, the alias created to perform the political assassination is that of John Michael Kane.
 Gunman with Three Names / int_12b12556
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1.0
 Gunman with Three Names / int_12b12556
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 The Bourne Identity
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Gunman with Three Names / int_12b12556
 Gunman with Three Names / int_18a9dd68
type
Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_18a9dd68
comment
Notorious Australian hitman Christopher Dale Flannery, known as Mr. Rentakill, depicted in both Blue Murder and Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities as a Psycho for Hire.
 Gunman with Three Names / int_18a9dd68
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Gunman with Three Names / int_18a9dd68
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_1c1fb5a5
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In a variant (serial killer, not gunman) there's Charles Lee Ray (referencing Manson, Oswald, and the guy who killed MLK), later known as Chucky, from Child's Play.
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Gunman with Three Names / int_1c1fb5a5
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_27b0262b
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Invoked in the "Hair of the Dog" episode of MythBusters, with Jamie in the role of an escaped convict attempting to evade the bloodhound. Adam, playing the part of a law officer in pursuit, referred to Jamie as "James Franklin Hyneman", complete with wanted poster.
 Gunman with Three Names / int_27b0262b
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Gunman with Three Names / int_27b0262b
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_36c89d24
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Hannibal: Garrett Jacob Hobbes, The Minnesota Shrike. Expanded from his mentions in the book and movie.
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Gunman with Three Names / int_36c89d24
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_3c33a32c
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Aversion: The eponymous assassin of The Day of the Jackal is known only by his code name.
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Gunman with Three Names / int_3c33a32c
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_441fc787
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Serial killer Daryll Lee Callum in Copycat.
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 Gunman with Three Names / int_441fc787
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Gunman with Three Names / int_441fc787
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_4d8e5ec
comment
Lampshaded on The Daily Show in a segment on Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) who had previously made statements that seemed to call for the assassination of various political figures including Hillary Clinton and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
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Gunman with Three Names / int_4d8e5ec
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_51a97816
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Kevin James Loibl, fan-turned-assassin of Christina Grimmie.
 Gunman with Three Names / int_51a97816
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Gunman with Three Names / int_51a97816
 Gunman with Three Names / int_691be369
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_691be369
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The X-Files had tons of these, including Eugene Victor Tooms, Luther Lee Boggs, Warren James Dupre, Darin Peter Oswald, Robert Patrick Modell (presumably not named after Robert Patrick, who wouldn't join the cast for another 5 years), John Lee Roche, and Wilson Pinker Rawls. All are aversions as they're serial killers, not assassins.
Then, of course, there is John Fitzgerald Byers, who is part of a group called The Lone Gunmen.
And the Gunmen's sometimes-ally, sometimes rival, who goes by "Yves Adele Harlow" or some other alias that is an anagram of Lee Harvey Oswald...probably just to mess with the Gunmen.
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Gunman with Three Names / int_691be369
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_73cb7f0b
comment
Hunter (1984): William Joseph Powell, AKA "Billy Joe", is a notorious serial killer who conspires with his paramour, fellow serial killer Iris Smith, to go on a murderous rampage across Los Angeles.
 Gunman with Three Names / int_73cb7f0b
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1.0
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Gunman with Three Names / int_73cb7f0b
 Gunman with Three Names / int_7680545c
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_7680545c
comment
Discussed in The Nanny; When Fran thinks that Niles is about to snap and kill the family, Val goes over all the warning signs with her, when they get to the three name rule, Fran stops for a second because nobody actually knows what his middle and last name is. She eventually decided to grasp a fringe of logic to make him fit this rule.
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Gunman with Three Names
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The backstory of Mass Effect mentions a gunman named Michael Moser Lang who assassinated the presidents of the United North American States and China with a powerful submachine gun several years before the events of the first game. (Both at once. The Chinese president tackled the American, trying to shove him out of the way, and the slugs fatally penetrated both bodies. It's implied he only intended to kill the American.) Shepard gets his/her hands on the original weapon (and a copy) in Mass Effect 2.
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Gunman with Three Names
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One of the assorted crazy connections thrown out in the movie Conspiracy Theory is noting that successful assassins are remembered by their full names, but unsuccessful ones by just two.
One character makes an implicit accusation about a murder to another character by asking what his middle name is.
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_924bb56e
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The Dollhouse episode "Omega" referenced and lampshaded this, when looking at the file of Alpha's original personality:
 Gunman with Three Names / int_924bb56e
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Gunman with Three Names / int_924bb56e
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_95f7353a
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Then, of course, there is John Fitzgerald Byers, who is part of a group called The Lone Gunmen.
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Gunman with Three Names / int_95f7353a
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Gunman with Three Names
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Joel (Patrick) Courtney (b. 1966), rapist and serial killer, not to be confused with Joel Courtney (b. 1996), star of Super 8. To make matters worse the former's TruTV Crime Library page is headlined "Bad Actor".
 Gunman with Three Names / int_99b35817
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Gunman with Three Names / int_99b35817
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_9ed2e3f5
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John Wayne Cleaver.
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 I Am Not a Serial Killer
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Gunman with Three Names
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This tendency is lampshaded in one What If?? comic, where, during an alternate version of the Dark Reign storyline, Hawkeye follows through on his promise to kill Norman Osborn. The news gets out, and suddenly the whole world knows his full name.
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Gunman with Three Names / int_9edf7c1d
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_a1f4d0da
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Referenced in The Fast and the Furious when Dom checks Brian's wallet.
 Gunman with Three Names / int_a1f4d0da
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1.0
 Gunman with Three Names / int_a1f4d0da
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Gunman with Three Names / int_a1f4d0da
 Gunman with Three Names / int_a88418fd
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_a88418fd
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John Wilkes Booth mentions this in a conversation with Lee Harvey Oswald (also referencing James Earl Ray, and referring to all three as "rednecks") in the Stephen Sondheim musical Assassins.
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Gunman with Three Names / int_a88418fd
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_ab4deac4
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Massively Multiplayer has none other than Christian Weston Chandler, who in TTL commits a school shooting.
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Gunman with Three Names / int_ab4deac4
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_b0fc9724
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Buckwheat's assassin in the famous "Buckwheat has been shot" sketches on Saturday Night Live was named John David Stutts.
The episode with Jim Parsons has a fictional documentary with Jim as serial killer Mark Allen Henry.
Lampshaded when Matt Damon appears as a Bostonian boxer named Tommy Ray Donovan, in lieu of an intimidating nickname.
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Gunman with Three Names / int_b0fc9724
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_c1c642f7
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Karl Ruprecht Kroenen in Hellboy.
 Gunman with Three Names / int_c1c642f7
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1.0
 Gunman with Three Names / int_c1c642f7
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Gunman with Three Names / int_c1c642f7
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_ccf875f7
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Criminal Minds sometimes inverts this trope giving us serial killers with three names. The most (in)famous ones are Floyd Feylinn Ferrel and Jason Clark Battle.
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Gunman with Three Names / int_ccf875f7
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_db0a5103
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Parodied in Scooby-Doo when at the end Velma reports they had captured Scrappy Cornelius Doo.
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Gunman with Three Names / int_db0a5103
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Gunman with Three Names
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Dr. Charles Henry Moffett, the evil creator of Airwolf
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Gunman with Three Names / int_df6c9f95
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_e26a70e8
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Lampshaded in Gone Girl; the media referring to Nick as Lance Nicholas Dunne is recognized as an extremely bad sign, and he is greatly relieved when they simply call him Nick Dunne (which is the name he prefers in daily life).
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Gunman with Three Names
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Shelly De Killer from Ace Attorney is a Professional Killer in disguise of Butler/ ice cream seller which eventually killed Juan Corrida, and his client was no more than Matt Engarde, then he discovers that Matt wanted to blackmail Shelly, and he decided to search Matt instead of working for him, though, he's also Affably Evil because he's a man of word, and never breaks a promise until he's betrayed just like Matt, also, this is demonstrated when In Ace Attorney Investigations Miles Edgeworth 2 he helps Miles to discover the truth about the assassination of his Arch-Enemy: Ethan Rooke. Ultimately, at the end of the game he forgives the life of Simon because Sirhan Dogen interrupts him from murdering Simon.
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Gunman with Three Names
 Gunman with Three Names / int_f176b95b
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At the start of Tragedy Girls, Sadie and McKayla capture a Serial Killer, then go through his pockets. They find his ID, which tells them his name is, "Lehmann Orson Lowell."
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Gunman with Three Names
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On Burn Notice, when the gang runs up against a serial killer, Sam suggests they call him by "Dennis Wayne Barfield" for that extra serial-killer flavor.
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Gunman with Three Names
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Limitless: One-Shot Character Brandy Jo Hawkins makes a false confession to an attempted political assassination and is referred to by all three of her names.
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Gunman with Three Names
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In the book All-American Girl (Meg Cabot), the title character saves the president from an assassin named Larry Wayne Rogers.
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Gunman with Three Names
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A heroic example from Wolfenstein, B.J. in the later games is often referred to by his full name of William Joseph Blazkowicz by the Nazis, and he's a terrorist from their perspective.
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Gunman with Three Names
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For whatever reason, TV news reports related to the LA Riots frequently referred to Rodney King as "motorist Rodney King," as though owning and driving a car were still a novelty in 1992, but more likely because he was driving when he was pulled over and beaten by police. Even Wikipedia called him a motorist for the longest time (it now refers to him as a construction worker).
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Gunman with Three Names
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Naming Conventions
 Conspiracy Theory / int_e86cf1cf
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Gunman with Three Names
 Copycat / int_e86cf1cf
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
 The Cell / int_e86cf1cf
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
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Gunman with Three Names
 The Nanny / int_e86cf1cf
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Gunman with Three Names
 Assassins (Theatre) / int_e86cf1cf
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Gunman with Three Names