- "See he's more than my partner, alright, he's my friend. Known him since I was a kid, that's 30, 35 years."
"How much are each of those years worth to you?" - ―Carl Hoffman and Wilson Fisk[src]
The Assassination of Christian Blake was Wilson Fisk's way to ensure that the former corrupt detective did not confess his dealings to the police after Fisk had him shot.
Background
- "You find anyone alive, shoot 'em in the head."
- ―Christian Blake[src]
In the aftermath of the bombings throughout Hell's Kitchen, Detective Christian Blake and his partner Carl Hoffman, along with other police officers on Wilson Fisk's payroll, killed any survivors they came across. When they received word that Vladimir Ranskahov had survived the blast and was holed up in an abandoned building with the Man in the Mask, they surrounded the building. Ben Urich, a reporter from the New York Bulletin, arrived to report on the situation.
Meanwhile, Fisk communicated with the Man in the Mask using police radios. He offered him a way out of the building if he killed Ranskahov, but threatened to destroy his reputation if he refused. When the Man in the Mask refused his offer, Fisk ordered a SWAT team to shoot at the police, using his contacts in the media to infer that the Man in the Mask was responsible. Blake was shot and badly wounded.
Blake was taken to Metro-General Hospital and put under police guard, to prevent the Man in the Mask from finishing the job.[1]
Attack
- "I need you to listen to me, we may not have much time. Whatever your partner just injected you with has already reached your heart, you're going to be dead soon. But you can make the man responsible for this pay for what he has done. Tell me everything you know about Wilson Fisk."
- ―Daredevil to Christian Blake[src]
When the news reported that Christian Blake had regained consciousness, Wilson Fisk worried that he would be angry at him for having him shot, and would turn on him, betraying him to the police. Fisk asked James Wesley to reach out to Carl Hoffman, Blake's partner, to offer to pay him to kill Blake.
Hoffman was reluctant, telling Fisk that Blake was a friend, not just a partner. Fisk, however, asked him to name his own price. In the end, Hoffman, feeling coerced, agreed to do it.
Hoffman arrived at Metro-General Hospital and was met by officer Brett Mahoney, who was guarding Blake's hospital room. Hoffman held a bag containing Blake's favorite sandwich, in which he had hidden a syringe. Hoffman injected Blake's IV with the contents of the syringe before Blake woke up.
The Man in the Mask knocked Hoffman out, and told Blake that it was too late to save his life, but that he could at least make Fisk pay for what he did. Blake did give him valuable information, and when the officers outside his room arrived on the scene, Blake was dead, the Man in the Mask had escaped out the window, and Hoffman told everyone that the Man in the Mask had killed his partner.[2]
Aftermath
- "You think I would let you walk away?! After what you've done!"
"That's exactly what you're going to do, because I had Detective Hoffman. Hoffman never left the city after he murdered his partner in the hospital, I scooped him up, squirreled him away for a rainy day." - ―Wilson Fisk and Leland Owlsley[src]
Carl Hoffman was approached by Leland Owlsley, who was growing increasingly worried about Wilson Fisk's erratic behavior. Owlsley offered Hoffman ten million dollars to stay in hiding, and informed him that if Owsley did not check in every 24 hours, he should go to the police and tell them everything he knew about Fisk in exchange for witness protection.[3]