When Love Turns Lethal

They were in a relationship, living together. She thought the relationship was monogamous until she learned he had a lover on the side.

Rather than confront him and kick him out, she turned to the dark web to hire a hitman to take out his lover.

The authorities received a tip that led them to the blockchain service that connected her to a hitman.

The special agent with Homeland Security Investigations assigned to the case did a blockchain analysis and found she’d made several deposits payable to a supposed hitman.

She deposited at a crypto ATM $3,000 cash, then over $8,000, another $3,000. The conversion from cash to Bitcoin included a hefty 13.5% service fee.

One aspect of the investigation that helped the agent access information on the girlfriend was that she named her crypto account after her dog, who she posted about on social media.

The authorities arrested the girlfriend. She admitted she had transferred Bitcoin to someone she thought would murder her boyfriend’s lover. A few months later, she pleaded guilty to one count of murder-for-hire.

The sentencing judge gave the 58-year-old ex-girlfriend nine years in a federal prison, where there is no early parole.

At the sentencing hearing, both sides agreed that the “hitman” who she’d paid over $14,000 did not intend to carry out the act.

Source: U.S. District Court, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Justice, Law & Crime

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