John Valecue

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Evil-doer
Full Name	John Valecue
Alias	Ian's shooter
Origin	EastEnders
Occupation	Professional hitman
Powers / Skills	Gunsmanship Exceptional driver
Hobby	Getting paid to shoot his targets.
Goals	Kill Ian Beale in a drive-by-shooting on behalf of Ian's wife Cindy Beale (failed to kill Ian; but did succeed in shooting Ian). Avoid getting caught out by both the police and the Mitchell Brothers (failed). Expose Cindy's perpetuation of the events surrounding Ian's shooting (succeeded).
Crimes	Drive-by-shooting Conspiracy Attempted murder Dangerous driving
Type of Villain	Enigmatic Assassin

John Valecue is a fictional character and supporting antagonist in the British soap opera EastEnders. He appeared as a supporting antagonist in between the years 1996 and 1998, furthermore serving as the secondary antagonist in the storyline where villain Cindy Beale attempts to kill her husband Ian Beale by hiring a hitman - John himself - to shoot him in a drive-by-shooting incident.

He was played by Steve Weston.

Biography

John Valecue was known in Albert Square, the market town of a fictional East London borough called Walford, to be a professional hitman who often gets paid to eliminate his targets by shooting them or victimizing them in drive-by-shooting incidents.

In 1996, Valecue is approached by scheming adulterer Cindy Beale - as she wishes to silence her husband Ian Beale after he wins a custody battle for her son Steven along with fellow siblings Peter and Lucy, in light of Cindy's recent affairs with both Ian's half-brother David Wicks and earlier on the latter's own brother Simon Wicks - also Steven's father. Cindy wants Valecue to kill Ian in a drive-by-shooting incident so she could steal custody of her children, and manages to hire Valecue after lying about Ian being the unfaithful spouse between them.

At somepoint, Cindy appears to contemplate in changing her mind - but it is too late as Valecue carries out the order upon driving towards Cindy and her husband; he shoots Ian before driving away from the scene. Shortly afterwards, a police investigation is launched to uncover the events behind Ian's shooting. Cindy is able to pay off Valecue before fleeing the country with Steven and Peter, leaving Lucy behind in the process.

Soon enough, Ian's stepfather Phil Mitchell and his hardman brother Grant Mitchell work out that Cindy is behind Ian's shooting and that Valecue was the gunman. The Mitchell Brothers track down Valecue and confront him about Ian's shooting. At first Valecue denies his involvement, but is forced by Phil and Grant into explaining the events behind the shooting.

Around sometime in 1997, Valecue gets arrested for participating in another shooting - which he failed to complete this time around. In 1998, he is visited in prison by Ian's private investigator Ros Thorne and their associate Annie Palmer; the pair are working together on Ian's behalf to help implicate Cindy as the orchestrator behind Ian's shooting so that he can reclaim custody of his children, thus allowing Annie to continue working on her project with Ian regarding the local council. Valecue refuses to reveal Cindy's name initially, but then Annie - known to be an illegitimate business manager due to her affiliation with Walford's criminal underworld - threatens to use her contacts inside the prison where Valecue is being held in to hurt him unless he complies with their demands.

Eventually, Valecue relents and agrees to reveal Cindy's role behind Ian's shooting to the police. This works successfully as Cindy is later arrested and jailed for Ian's shooting, thus allowing Ian to win the custody battle and put his situation with Cindy and the shooting to rest for good. Since then, Valecue has never been mentioned nor heard about ever again.

Trivia

• John Valecue made a total of 6 appearances throughout his duration on EastEnders.