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 a feared assassin who is the third heir to a line of assassins known as "de Killer" that first became known in the early 20th century. De killer performs his jobs calmly and with precision, and always leaves behind his calling card -- a white card with a pink seashell design on it -- so that the authorities know of his involvement. He adopts outfits and personae that disguise him as being uninvolved with the murders in order to interact with investigators.

Two of de Killer's targets are known; Jammin' Ninja actor Juan Corrida and Zheng Fa president Teikun Ō (though it would be sometime before de Killer understood the true nature of "Ō"). Disguising himself as a bellboy and later a butler, de Killer was called to testify as a witness via a radio transceiver at the murder trial of the former murder. De Killer (disguised as an ice cream salesman) was later questioned for the latter murder.

Involvement in Corrida's murder

 * Main article: Farewell, My Turnabout

In March of 2018, the actor Matt Engarde hired de Killer to kill rival actor Juan Corrida during the Hero of Heroes Grand Prix event at the Gatewater Imperial Hotel on the 20th of that month and retrieve Celeste Inpax's suicide note, which was hidden in a Swiss bear toy. After the Hero of Heroes Grand Prix was over, Engarde met up with de Killer, who disguised himself as a bellboy, and paid him as per their contract. De Killer soon afterwards went to Corrida's hotel room and killed the actor by strangling him with his own scarf. The assassin then left his calling card, and gave Engarde the bear.

Adrian Andrews, Engarde's manager, was the first to discover the crime scene. She accidentally took de Killer's calling card and meddled with the crime scene to frame Engarde for the murder. The resulting arrest was the first time that one of de Killer's clients had been arrested for one of his hits. His personal code meant that he would do all he could to free his client, and so delivered the bear toy to Engarde Mansion and collected a videotape from the private lounge, which Engarde had told him to retrieve, but not watch.

Still under the guise of a bellboy, de Killer lured Maya Fey by alerting her of a phone call at the front desk. De Killer then gave Will Powers a transceiver to give to the defense attorney Phoenix Wright for two-way communication, and subsequently demanded a complete acquittal for Engarde in one trial day, holding Fey as ransom. He kept Fey locked up in Engarde Mansion's wine cellar and informed her of his profession and the deal that he had just made with Wright.

Shortly before the trial, de Killer shot the case's prosecutor, Franziska von Karma, in the shoulder, as a "present" to Wright. As von Karma was sent to the Hotti Clinic, Miles Edgeworth prosecuted in her stead. Although Wright tried to make the case for Adrian Andrews being the real killer, he failed to do so, and the trial was adjourned for the day. Before Andrews left, however, Edgeworth discovered the card that she had absentmindedly found, and demanded that Andrews give it to him.

After the trial, Wright went to visit von Karma, and Edgeworth told him about de Killer. During Wright's investigation, Fey tried to escape with de Killer's calling card, and she found a picture of Celeste Inpax in a private lounge before de Killer caught her. When Engarde asked Wright to feed his cat Shoe at his mansion, Wright met de Killer again, albeit in the guise of "John Doe", Engarde's butler. Wright tried to gain information out of Doe, but the "butler" insisted that it would be inappropriate for him to talk about it.

While Wright was in Corrida's hotel room, de Killer contacted Wright about the "deal" that they had made. He reluctantly agreed to let Wright try again tomorrow, but communication between them suddenly broke off into static. The cause was eventually discovered: a hidden spy camera in one of Corrida's bear presents, which was traced back to Engarde. Wright confronted Engarde about this, and Engarde revealed his true persona and that he had videotaped Corrida's murder as "insurance" against de Killer, as well as a possible way to blackmail him.

Edgeworth was waiting for Wright as he left the detention center, and they went to the Criminal Affairs Department to discuss Wright's situation. During the conversation, de Killer contacted Wright again, and when Wright asked why de Killer would do so much for Engarde, the assassin replied that he saw it as part of his duty to protect his clients. He then remarked that it would be quite troublesome for someone to trace the signal and ended the call. Unfortunately for him, he had his location given away by a "meow" from Shoe at the end of the call. Edgeworth immediately sent police units to Engarde Mansion, but the assassin had already escaped. Wright then realized that he had previously talked to de Killer face-to-face as the butler "John Doe".

On the second day of Engarde's trial, Wright stalled for time by picking at the testimonies of Powers and Andrews while Gumshoe and a police squad tried to find de Killer. As the police closed in on de Killer, he managed to escape, but he left his pistol, the videotape, his bellboy's uniform, and one of his calling cards. He attempted to retrieve the tape, injuring three officers in the process, but he failed to do so. Gumshoe took these items de Killer had dropped and sped toward the District Court.

De Killer then contacted Edgeworth out of court seeking to testify, telling Edgeworth that his client was indeed Matt Engarde. The radio transceiver was brought to the witness stand, but de Killer betrayed Edgeworth and named Andrews as his client. However, Wright exposed contradictory details in the assassin's claims about his supposed client, which caused de Killer to realize what the attorney was doing and cut communications. Just as the judge was about to render a not guilty verdict, von Karma appeared with the evidence that Gumshoe had taken. Wright quickly contacted de Killer again and told him about the videotape. Realizing that de Killer was oblivious to the contents or purpose of the tape, Wright informed him of what Engarde had done. Furious at this betrayal, de Killer broke his contract with Engarde and informed the court that, if a client willingly betrayed him, de Killer would swear bloody vengeance upon them. He then informed Wright that, since the contract was broken, he would return Fey to him. Once Engarde realized that to do otherwise would leave him at the mercy of the furious assassin, the actor pleaded guilty for his crimes.

After the trial, de Killer contacted Wright one more time via the transceiver. He said that the attention the case was getting was making it difficult for him to operate and that he planned to leave the country. He also told Wright to visit his website if he was ever in need of his services, before the transceiver self-destructed, leaving nothing to trace back to him.

Return

 * Main article: Gyakuten Kenji 2

Presidential assassination attempt

 * Main article: Turnabout Target

A year later, de Killer was given the job of assassinating the president of Zheng Fa Teikun Ō by Sōta Sarushiro. The assassin first tried to infiltrate the president's bodyguards by disguising himself as one. He managed to gather a good amount of information on the president's protection, including the names of the leader and sub-leader of the guards, and soon struck. Although the leader of the bodyguards, a man called Gai Tojiro, noticed de Killer, by that time the assassin had managed to get close to his target. The assassin managed to easily overpower most of the bodyguards, beginning with the sub-leader Manosuke Naitō, whom he grabbed by the throat so hard that the latter was later forced to wear a neck brace and was unable to turn his head right. Unfortunately for de Killer, Gai Tojiro proved far more formidable, as he quickly grabbed and twisted the assassin's left arm, then put a bullet through the same arm. De Killer managed to escape with a wounded arm and respect for Tojiro's skill.

The president's security was subsequently changed so that only Tojiro and Naitō would be on the stage with the president during a speech at Gourd Lake in the United States, which was taking place two days after de Killer's attack. De Killer learnt of the speech, as well as a planned staged assassination attempt the president had planned in an attempt to boost his flagging ratings back home in Zheng Fa. The assassin bandaged his wounded arm, and hid a knife inside the dressing. He then acquired a red raincoat with a hood, as that would be what the fake assassin would be wearing. Infiltrating the site posing as an ice cream salesman, de Killer waited for an opportunity to turn the staged assassination into a real one.

As the president gave his speech, gunshots rang out and the crowd panicked. De killer moved with the crowd, but made sure to remove his raincoat and hide it in a nearby stall. Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, who de Killer had previously encountered during the Engarde job a year before, was called to investigate this apparent assassination attempt. The assassin watched with interest as the prosecutor began to piece together events. Edgeworth eventually learnt of the red-hooded figure suspected of being the president's assassin, and then found de Killer's raincoat. Since his wound would occasionally still open and bleed, this meant that a bloodstain was inside the discarded raincoat on the left-hand side. Edgeworth used this to find de Killer in the crowd.

De Killer feigned ignorance and introduced himself as an ice cream salesman called "John Doe". Edgeworth soon proved that the raincoat was indeed his, which de Killer admitted. He then made a slip-up when he revealed that he knew information he should not; the full names of Naitō and Tojiro. However, the assassin managed to recover by leading the prosecutor to the identify another red-hooded figure; an aspiring journalist called Mikiko Hayami. However, just as Edgeworth made this deduction, Manosuke Naitō appeared to announce that the president was okay, but that Gai Tojiro had been killed. The bodyguard also told Edgeworth that the president's team would take over the investigation. Just as Naitō made to take away Hayami, de Killer grabbed the former and held his hidden knife to the bodyguard's throat. He revealed who he really was and demanded that Edgeworth be allowed to continue his investigation. Naitō had no choice but to submit to the assassin, and the group (consisting of Edgeworth, Kay Faraday, Naitō, and de Killer) boarded the nearby plane that the president had arrived on.

Once on board the plane, de Killer found that his target was hiding inside a secure room. He attempted to make Teikun Ō come out said room by threatening to kill Naitō. When it became apparent that the president would not appear, de Killer, satisfied with the progress of Edgeworth's investigation, proceeded to escape by turning out the lights and knocking out all those present. Just before Edgeworth passed out, de Killer informed the prosecutor that he had not killed Gai Tojiro, and left his trademark calling card. De Killer then took an inflatable boat and escaped to the other side of Gourd Lake, which was devoid of a police presence.

Edgeworth eventually discovered the whole fake assassination plot, as well as the fact that Naitō had been the one who had killed Tojiro. However, the calling card de Killer left behind remained an unsolved mystery to Edgeworth, with the card leaving him wondering who de Killer's client was.

Confronting Sarushiro

 * Main article: The Grand Turnabout

In the days that followed, de Killer became suspicious over the president's seeming willingness to allow Naitō to be killed in his place, finding it inconsistent with his known character. After carrying out further research, de Killer found out that his client had lied to him about his target; the man he had tried to kill was not the president at all but a body double. Sarushiro had known this from the very start, having witnessed the real president's death, yet failed to communicate this information. This broke de Killer's rules for an assassin-client trust relationship and thus caused the assassin to end his contract with Sarushiro.

De Killer refused to let this betrayal go unpunished, and so contacted Edgeworth and provided him with information that pointed to the role of a "mastermind" behind all of his recent cases. Later, whilst Edgeworth was investigating the Big Tower's roof, de Killer met with him and claimed that he had been looking for the mastermind as well and revealed that said individual had been the one who hired him to kill the president. De Killer refused to disclose the client's identity to Edgeworth, though he did tell him that he planned to punish the client for "betraying him" and would be following Edgeworth's investigation from the shadows, before disappearing.

After Edgeworth had confronted Sarushiro at the Berry Big Circus to prove beyond all doubt that Sarushiro had killed the body double himself, de Killer suddenly made his presence known. Holding his former client at knifepoint, de Killer told Sarushiro that he knew that he had lied about the double's identity and had caused de Killer's own assassination attempts to fail, and moved to kill him for his betrayal of assassin-client trust. However, just before his knife could reach Sarushiro's throat, he found his way blocked by the blind assassin Ryōken Hōinbō, who was a father-like figure to Sarushiro. As the two assassins held their knives to one another's throats, Hōinbō requested de Killer forgive Sarushiro and instead let him serve a prison sentence. After a moment of thought, de Killer accepted and let Sarushiro live. With his business done, de Killer escaped, with the Interpol agent Shi-Long Lang in close pursuit.

However, de Killer managed to evade the Interpol agent and returned to Gourd Lake. As the wound in his arm reopened, he remarked that he would never forget the man who had given him it. Pondering whether he should continue to sell ice cream or crepes, he remarked that he wished to live the calm life of a salesman, that is until his services were required again.

Personality
"Shelly de Killer"

- ...People are not always who they appear to be.

Shelly de Killer is a polite and calm individual who never directly shows his emotions. He holds a strictly professional view of his work and carries it out with precision, but also strongly values the bond of trust that he has with his clients, such that he always meets with them face-to-face, and considers betrayal a horrible crime deserving death. Whenever he commits a contract 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 thus serves as insurance against any charges the client may face. He also has his own website.

De Killer has adapted three personae for his murders; a bellboy, a butler and an ice cream salesman.

De Killer and fellow assassin Ryōken Hōinbō appear to have encountered each other at some point in the past, as the latter commented that "It has been far too long" during their standoff.

Name

 * His Japanese surname "Koroshiya" literally means "assassin".


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


 * His Japanese alias, "Tarou 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, his full name "Shelly de Killer" is effectively "the killer with the conches".


 * His alias "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 radio transceiver used by de Killer to testify in Farewell, My Turnabout 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 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. The ice cream, like the transceiver, shows de Killer's emotions.


 * Whilst under the guise of an ice cream salesman, both shoulder areas (and much more notably the back area) of de Killer's coat clearly have his shell on them; seeing as to how Edgeworth instantly recognized de Killer's card when Adrian Andrews showed it to him, it is somewhat odd that it was overlooked.