Russian woman 'ordered contract killing of son'

A Moscow woman hired a hitman to kill her 21-year-old son because he refused to pay back a loan for a new computer, investigators said Wednesday. The woman, 47, and her son quarrelled after he took out a loan in her name to buy a notebook computer and neglected to pay her back, the Investigative Committee said in a statement. She approached an acquaintance and offered him more than 12,000 euros ($17,160) to kill her son. But he secretly reported the request to police and the woman was arrested as she handed over the final payment. The woman had taken out another bank loan to pay the hitman, investigators added.