A Nevada woman has been charged by federal authorities for allegedly paying $5,000 in bitcoin to a darkweb hitman.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the Justice Department, 36-year-old Kristy Lynn Felkins has been accused of a murder-for-hire plot against her ex-husband. Felkins was indicted by the California federal court on Thursday for her role in paying a fake hitman 12 BTC in 2016 (worth $5000 at the time).
Homeland Security agents were able to trace the bitcoin to a LocalBitcoins account reportedly belonging to Felkins. Despite using a pseudonym on the account, Felkins allegedly had discussed mixing her bitcoin with the scam hitman prior to paying him.
The complaint cites a series of chat logs detailing a month-long conversation between Felkins and the darkweb hitman on methods for disposing of her ex-husband.
Federal agents were tipped off to the murder-for-hire plot by an anonymous foreign hacker, who had “scraped” the darkweb site for chat logs and bitcoin addresses. The hacker turned over information allegedly tying Felkins to the plot, including her phone number, to authorities in January 2019.
According to the complaint, the hacker who tipped them off has proven “to be reliable” and is working with the U.S. government without expectation of monetary gain.
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