I dunno; at least that way it's more obviously hyperbolic, and thus less likely to be emulated

It's oscillated a few times; some of the early ones are quite murder-y, and the Reg version has sometimes been a bit more normal (though I think he's in a murder-y phase at the moment).

BOFH#4 already implies someone is killed by a SWAT team

> machivellian character who murders people on a regular basis

I read the first one he murders someone so it seems it has always been like that.