By killing a nearby chicken before or after assasinating Hern and Hert (his female bodyguard) you can avoid or remove the bounty (all witnesses killed). Its another case of the stool-pidgeon-chickens.Redvideo ^(talk) 04:40, March 16, 2012 (UTC)

Wasn't the chicken witness bug fixed a while back? Either way, you can bypass potential witnesses and bounties by waiting until the evening and killing them in their home. Or alternatively, just talk to Hern and tell him you're from the Dark Brotherhood and he'll initiate combat, which prevents you getting a bounty when you kill him. Turtrus ^(talk) 19:25, March 24, 2012 (UTC)