Family Values?

Thicker than water, or simply thick?

WITH tears in his eyes, a man who paid a hitman to kill his son's rape victim yesterday told the court: "I didn't want her to be hurt."

Chaouki Bou-Antoun, 51, has pleaded guilty to soliciting the hitman - actually an undercover police officer - to kill the woman.

But the Lebanese-born father-of-five said he never intended to hand over the final $20,000 that would seal the deal...

...When asked if he intended to give the hitman the remainder, he said: "No, not one more cent."

On one occasion he nearly called the police to tell them of the plan but did not do so out of concern for his son, he said.

"He's still my son, doesn't matter what he did," Bou-Antoun said.

-- Nora