The Law: Disappearing Witnesses

Your new co-worker may be a former Mob hit man

That couple moving in down the street are probably exactly what they seem to be—just folks setting up housekeeping in a strange town. But these days they could also be people with freshly minted false identities: Government-aided fugitives attempting to shed the past and escape someone's vengeance after a lifetime of violence and criminality. Almost twice a day, under a little-known federal program, the Justice Department creates a new personality, complete with counterfeit Social Security card, driver's license and educational and job histories, and foists the ex-criminal on a largely unsuspecting public,...

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