Tony Kiritsis

Kiritsis was a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, and had fallen behind on mortgage payments for a piece of real estate.

This "dead man's line" meant that if a policeman shot Kiritsis the shotgun would go off and shoot Hall in the head.

Finally, a lawyer said Hall had signed a document stating that he had mistreated Kiritsis and would pay him $5 million.

Kiritsis then made a speech in front of live TV cameras declaring himself "a goddamned national hero."

Kiritsis was described as "always helpful and kind to his neighbors, a hard worker and a strict law-and-order sort of man".

Kiritsis was released from a mental institution in January 1988, after the state could not prove he was still a danger to society.