Have you heard of Rent-a-Hitman? It’s been a thing since 2005, when a young man created the company/website providing a service to businesses to find their vulnerabilities. At that time, the term ‘hit’ meant electronic hits to the businesses.
The business didn’t take off, but the creator maintained the website and domain name (Rent-a-Hitman), but seldom checked on it. In 2010, he checked his email and found an email from a woman looking for a legit hitman to kill three family members who she felt had cheated her out of an inheritance. She included names and addresses of the targets. He forwarded the information to a police officer friend who sent it to the correct agency.
They arrested the woman, and she served time in prison.
The company/website owner shifted the focus of the website to be a FAKE contract killing agency. He felt he had made the website enough of a spoof that nobody would take it seriously, including that the ‘killers’ were bound by HIPAA (Hitman Information Privacy Protection Act—a spinoff of the real HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
I think it’s super interesting, if you do too, read more about the website on Wikipedia—here’s the link. Rent-A-Hitman
This true crime is about a woman who mistakenly sought hitman services from the fake web-service Rent-a-Hitman. The mother of three young children (2, 7, 10) wanted her ex-husband’s live-in girlfriend killed, and it didn’t matter how—whatever was easiest.
She provided personal identifying details of herself and the target. The owner of the spoof business forwarded her information to the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives who oversee these types of crimes. An agent contacted the woman posing as a hitman. Her emails to the hitman were persistent and urgent. She wanted the act to be carried out swiftly.
Through messaging, the woman said she was fine with the target being in a six-foot hole. She emphasized nobody could find out about their deal, stating, “I can’t lose my kids.” They continued to correspond for about two weeks until the undercover agent met her in person. The agent secretly recorded the meeting. She agreed to pay a $100 down-payment, gave the ‘hitman’ a diamond ring and would make payments to pay off the agreed sum of $1,500.
The agent arrested her, charged her, and she sat in jail for six months awaiting trial. She accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to the Use of the Interstate Commerce Facilities in the Commission of Murder for Hire.
A judge sentenced the 31-year-old woman to 7-1/2 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. An ATF agent associated with the case said,
“The act of murder is in itself a heinous crime. But the act of attempting to hire someone to commit murder is that much more egregious.”
Source: U.S. District Court, U.S. Department of Justice, Law & Crime