assassinate

/ə-ˈsa-sə-ˌnāt/

verb

  1. to murder (a usually prominent person) by sudden or secret attack often for political reasons

  2. to injure or destroy unexpectedly and treacherously

a plot to assassinate the governor

kill slay murder assassinate dispatch execute mean to deprive of life. kill merely states the fact of death caused by an agency in any manner. slay is a chiefly literary term implying deliberateness and violence but not necessarily motive.