Why did Saudi Arabia think they could get away with murder?

The West has always courted Saudi Arabia. Immense oil reserves, immense arms deals, what more can I say? But always in this courtship there have been human rights concerns which have tended to get buried when the next defence contract comes up for signing. Now the whole of the West has a serious problem. There is no absolute proof at this stage that state murder has taken place but some facts are irrefutable:Jamal Khasshoggi, Saudi journalist and critic of the Riyadh regime as a dissident in exile entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 and has not been seen since. The Turkish government says 15 Saudi intelligence officers arrived in two Gulfstream jets and drove to the consulate in black 4x4s. The Turks have been amazingly forthcoming. They said the 15 Saudis were a hit squad who entered the consulate and killed Khasshoggi, dismmembered him and put his body parts into black bags before leaving and heading back to the airport. The finger of blame has been pointed in the direction of Saudi Arabia's most powerful prince, Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince. It's difficult to imagine anything of this nature happening without his authorisation but until we know who did what to whom and, much more importantly, whether the vanished Khasshoggi is actually dead, it's possibly prudent not to point too many fingers. But the circumstantial evidence is screaming from the rooftops. If, IF it turns out that the Saudi Royal Family ordered the assassination of the dissident Khasshoggi, the ingratiating respect always shown to the Crown Prince and the rest of his family will have to come to an end. And if that happens, it will mean that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made the worst decision of his life. He won't be ostracised as such because of the oil and defence contracts, but the deference will go. Even Prince Charles who has his own special contacts with the Saudi Royal Family, will have to cross bin Salman off his Christmas card list.