Murder-for-hire, hitmen, bitcoin, dark web, and an accountant? OOOO, this should be good. And, of course, this happened in Florida.
Here’s what the office of US Attorney Roger Handberg said about DeAnna Stinson’s plan to wipe out the spouse of her ex:
According to court documents, on June 24, 2021, Stinson created an account on a dark web website [called “The Website”] that purported to provide murder-for-hire services to its customers. The following day, Stinson submitted an “order” requesting that a hitman be assigned to complete a “quick hit in southern Florida” to kill the spouse of Stinson’s former significant other. In the order, Stinson provided the victim’s name, address, and a photograph of the victim. Between June and July 2021, Stinson sent four additional orders and more than $12,000 in Bitcoin to effectuate the hit. During this time, Stinson repeatedly messaged administrators of The Website and purported hitmen requesting that the “job” be completed as soon as possible and even offered a “bonus” if the hit was completed by a specific date.
If you ever wanted to know what an order for a hitman looks like, a court document provides descriptions of all five that Stinson posted on The Website:
Specifically, on or about July 30, 2021, the defendant placed the following order on The Website:
Order Name: [Victim 1’s Name]
Address: [Victim 1’s Address]
“Do not do at the home. Any place else is fine. Need completed during July – preferably, between July 5th – 11th”In addition to the “order” described above, the defendant placed four additional orders. Like the first order, the four subsequent orders also included the name, address, and a photograph of the victim. The orders included the following descriptions:
1) July 15, 2021 – Order #2. Description: “Do not do at the home. Any place else is fine. Need completed during July. Bonus if completed by July 31st”
2) July 17, 2021 – Order #3. Description: “Do you have a preferred escrow service? I am ready proceed. Can we get this done by month end?”
3) July 17, 2021 – Order #4. Description: Do you have a preferred escrow service? I am ready to proceed. Can we get this done by month end? The escrow account is set up on Coinsavr. Please advise as to your Username.”
4) July 22, 2021 – Order #5. Description: “Do not do at the home. Any place else is fine. Need completed during July. Bonus if completed by July 31st”
Back to the US attorney’s press release:
When Stinson had not received a status update from the administrators of The Website, on July 31, 2021, Stinson requested that the administrators “reassign the job to someone who has a history of getting jobs done” because she “need[ed] th[e] job done ASAP.”
Law enforcement agents received information regarding Stinson’s criminal activity and obtained records from her virtual currency exchange account. The records showed that Stinson had paid Bitcoin to The Website. An agent contacted Stinson while acting in an undercover capacity as a hitman for The Website. In a recorded phone call, Stinson confirmed that she wanted the victim killed and agreed to send additional money to the undercover agent via Bitcoin so that the transaction could not be traced. On September 13, 2021, Stinson sent $350 in Bitcoin to the undercover agent so that the agent could purchase a revolver to commit the murder.
Stinson, 50, from Tampa, pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire on Jan. 20. She is awaiting sentencing. If convicted, Stinson faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
Local NBC news affiliate WFLA reported that Stinson is the director of finance at the Bible-Based Fellowship Church in Hillsborough County.
