Shelly de Killer

"Miles Edgeworth"

- A special investigation team has existed for a number of years, but few know of it. [...] Their task is to find the "owner" of this card... A man called Shelly de Killer. And just as his name states, he is a "killer", an assassin. The best, at that.

Shelly de Killer is an assassin who was called to testify as a witness - through a radio transceiver - to the murder of Juan Corrida, whom he had been hired to kill. He is the third heir to a line of assassins known as "de Killer" that first became known in the early 20th century.

Involvement in Corrida's murder

 * Main article: Farewell, My Turnabout

On March 2018, Matt Engarde hired de Killer to kill Juan Corrida and retrieve Celeste Inpax's suicide note, which was hidden in a foreign bear toy. Engarde was accused of the murder; this was the first time this had actually happened to one of de Killer's clients. De Killer kidnapped Maya Fey to force Phoenix Wright to defend Engarde in court. He kept Fey locked up in Engarde Mansion and posed as Engarde's butler, "John Doe". Shortly before the trial, he shot the case prosecutor Franziska von Karma in the shoulder, to stop her prosecuting and therefore make Wright's job easier.

On the second day of Engarde's trial, de Killer testified via radio transceiver in favor of Engarde, claiming responsibility for the murder and naming his client as Adrian Andrews. During Wright's investigation, however, he found that Engarde had videotaped the murder of Juan for the purpose of control and blackmail. Wright informed de Killer of this in court, and a furious de Killer broke his contract with Engarde and swore bloody vengeance on him.

Reappearance

 * Main article: Turnabout Target

Unreleased De Killer was next seen as a suspect in the murder of the president of Zheng Fa.

Personality
As a hired assassin, de Killer holds a strictly professional view of his work and carries it out with precision. He strongly values the bond of trust that he has with his clients, and he considers betrayal a horrible crime deserving death. Whenever he commits a murder for a client, de Killer leaves a calling card with a seashell design on it at the crime scene. The card confirms that he had committed the murder, and it serves as insurance against any charges the client may face.

Name

 * "Koroshiya" literally means "assassin" in Japanese.


 * "Sazaemon" comes from the Japanese word "sazae" which means "a seashell", a reference to his calling card.


 * His Japanese alias, "Taro Tanaka" (田中太郎), is a generic, plain name in Japanese. The English equivalent would roughly be "John Smith" or "John Doe".


 * "Shelly" references his calling card, a card with a picture of a conch shell.


 * "De Killer" is a reference to his occupation.


 * Although unintentional, the name "Shelly de Killer" is effectively "the killer with the conches".


 * The name "John Doe" is used when a subject's true identity is unknown or withheld for legal reasons. It is also used for a male corpse or hospital patient if their identity is unknown.


 * His French alias comes from "allons au bistro" which means "let's go to the pub".

Development

 * The transceiver used by de Killer to testify bears a resemblance to the assassin himself. The line down the middle of the transceiver resembles de Killer's stitches and the dial resembles his monocle. This similarity is bolstered by the fact that the groove on the dial looks a lot like his constantly closed eyes and that it rotates according to his emotions.


 * In the upcoming Gyakuten Kenji 2, the ice-cream cone de Killer is seen holding bears a resemblance to de Killer himself, echoing the resemblance to his own transceiver in the assassin's previous appearance. In the ice-cream's case, it has a cherry "monocle" and the ice-cream itself is split into two flavors up the center, mirroring de Killer's distinctive facial stitches.