Ex-hitman who murdered 39 people reveals the chilling reason he became a killer for hire

An ex-hitman who murdered 39 drug dealers revealed the reason he became a hireable killer.

Daniel AKA ‘45’ is a former hitman from Pompano Beach, Florida, and last year in a tell-all interview he revealed how he found himself in that position.

Speaking with Soft White Underbelly in 2023, Daniel said growing up, his mother was an alcoholic and his father was a gangster who was ex-military.

He revealed that when he was just eight-years-old, he shot his grandfather by accident when a prank went wrong, resulting in him being sent to an ‘orphans home’ in New York.

He said that he met Mike Tyson in the orphan home, but he wasn’t the character you would have expected.

Daniel said: “We all just used to pick on him, we would call him names, and he used to fight everybody. And then later on in life he became famous as Mike Tyson.”

He also said that prior to joining a life of criminality, he wanted to own a plumbing and roofing company.

After leaving the orphanage at 10-years-old and moving in with his sister in Jacksonville, he became heavily involved with her husband's drug gang until he was 16.

Daniel said: “They would go on big killing sprees where they would just kill people. That led me down the wrong path, it led me into thinking it was okay when it wasn’t okay.

“I thought it was cool to kill people.”

Daniel then admitted that he's killed a total of 39 people - the majority of whom were drug dealers - and explained how the hitman process works, saying the client always had to pay half of the money upfront.

Daniel is now 52, but spent 29 years of his life in prison after being convicted of six murders.

Because of this, he spent 15 years on Death Row in Florida, before the supreme court overturned his convictions.

After changing his life around, he said that he has now ‘given his life to God’.

He added: “I used to have nightmares and then I became a changed man. It haunted me every day of my life.

“When you’re uneducated, when you were raised wrong and taught wrong, as you grow in life and you educate yourself, you begin to do what is right.

“And that’s what happened to me.”

Daniel said he has now been out of prison for two years, and upon changing his life, people have really ‘understood’ him.

You can watch Daniel's full interview with Soft White Underbelly here.

Featured Image Credit: Soft White Underbelly

Topics: Crime, US News, Death Row

Mia Williams