I’m not sure what you are asking. There is someone who knows some ugly secret and is considering if they want to publicly release it. If they can recall many dead whistleblowers who were rumoured to have been assasinatend over that kind of action then they are more likely to stay silent. Because they don’t want to die the same way.

And the key here is that the future would be whistleblowers hear about it. That is where the gossip is important.

In fact it doesn’t even have to be a real assasination. Just the rumour that it might have been is able to dissuade others.

Which part of this is unclear to you? Or which part are you asking about?