The Hitman was a former US Marine who served with Frank Castle at some point. He eventually became a mercenary and assassin, and clashed with Spider-Man on two occasions before dying when he fell from the top of the Statue of Liberty. Castle, now the Punisher, could have saved him from falling but chose to save Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson (who, like the Hitman, were dangling precariously from the statue's crown) instead.