J. Kb. covered the NYC Homeless Killer from one valid point of view. I am going to approach it from another.
After smashing the pair in the heads with the 15-pound, 3-foot-long piece of metal, Santos left the two men for dead and stalked for more victims, police said.
Maniac that bludgeoned sleeping Chinatown vagrants has history of violence
You have seen my posts’ series titled Old News. They come about from a research I am doing for somebody writing a book (which is gonna be really damned good) and one of the things I am researching is murders. One of the things I have found out perusing tens of thousands of digitized newsprint is the most efficient way to kill silently, specially while the victim or victims are asleep, was a metal bar or the blunt side of a hatchet, hell, even an axe. Crushing a skull makes almost no noise compared to a silenced firearm and it is faster than stabbing/slashing somebody, specially if you are not good with a knife. If you think about it, a blunt weapon is simple to use: a hard blows to the head, crush the skull and the victims don’t even have time wake up before they are dead. And even if you don’t kill them all the first time around, the victims are most than likely unable to produce a defense due to the brain damage, and can be finished at leisure.
Basically a cheap piece of steel bought at any Big Box Hardware store will be a more efficient killer than your four figure choice of pistol and silencer.
PS: The other thing I have discovered doing this research is that truly Evil deeds and assholes are a constant through the centuries.
Zombie survival preppers like to espouse the value of melee weapons for their lack of an ammo restriction. Axes are a popular choice, though Katana are also favored among otaku, despite the fact that most katana available worldwide are purely decorative and would likely break if used as a weapon.
Goblin Slayer strongly espouses the use of a club when hunting vermin such as goblins, rats, or giant spiders, anything that can be quickly killed with a bit of blunt trauma. He favors the inexpensive disposability, the ease of use, and the fact that they’re still effective in cramped quarters such as goblin warrens, where most adventurers’ large and fancy swords are hard to swing and become a detriment. One of the young adventurers he makes this recommendation to goes on to use the club as his primary weapon after using it to recover the sword that he was using the club as a temporary replacement for.
Also, read Goblin Slayer, it’s a fantasy series about a combat pragmatist who has NO compunctions about fighting fair.
There are reasons why biker gangs often favor hammers. wrenches or chains. In addition to professing an “innocent” purpose for the possession of such items, they make a useful alternative if one can’t legally possess a firearm.