I have a friend from a developing country. One night someone broke in to their house and stole a high value item (maybe $2K US). The next day they reported it

I have a friend from a developing country. One night someone broke in to their house and stole a high value item (maybe $2K US). The next day they reported it to the police. The police indicated they knew who it was. A few days later the perpetrator was found shot to death. It was well understood by everyone in the family and community that the police just went out and "handled it". My guess is the cops essentially thought "Come on, not this guy again" and summarily executed him. From what I understood they left his body in a pretty visible place - obviously to send a message. Another friend (from a different developing country) casually tells stories of bribing cops. When I acted surprised at first he said "The United States is the only country I've been to where bribing the cops isn't cool". As you say - justice in these countries isn't quite the same as what many of us are used to.