The Legal Trap of Online Hitman Services: A Dark Reflection of Society's Urge for Vigilante Justice
Kineshia Fievel Lassa, Volunteer - EngagePolitica
With nearly everything at one's fingertips online, it comes as no surprise that a few would look to the web to fulfill even such sinister desires. Stories in the last couple of years about botched plots of people seeking to hire contract killers online detail the trend, jarring both for the point it projects regarding societal desperation and for showing ignorance over the law. One of the most famous examples of this phenomenon is RentAHitman.com — a parody website that has ensnared scores of people attempting to solicit murder, and ultimately, landed them in prison.
The Site That Caught Real Criminals
RentAHitman.com was created as a joke back in 2005 by its founder, Bob Innes, with no intention whatsoever of actually making a contract killing deal platform. The domain name itself was a tongue-in-cheek spin-off of a cybersecurity project that Innes himself and other people were working on at that time in the calendar. Consequent to the completion of that project, the website took the form of a satirical shrine to the idea of hiring "hitmen" for digital tasks, as a play off the word "hit" as it is used in web analytics.
Something that began as something rather more innocuous took a much darker turn. The site's still riddled with very obvious parodies — things like "HIPPA compliance," referencing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, but rebranded for their purposes as the "Hitman Information Privacy and Protection Act." Before long, though, people started sending in actual hitman hire requests.
Bob Innes, instead of closing the site down, left it operational. Sequentially, what followed were a series of arrests and sting operations where the website was used to ensnare people actively seeking to murder others. That the website was able to capture such would-be criminals points to a critical lapse in human judgment: many people do not seem to realize that conspiring to commit murder — even online — is a serious offense.
The Law: Solicitation and Conspiracy to Murder
In the U.S., under the law, conspiracy and solicitation to murder are grave crimes, even if murder does not occur. Solicitation of murder occurs when one requests or attempts to persuade another to commit murder. Conspiracy is an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime and the commission of an overt act to effectuate the conspiracy by at least one party.
Although the vast majority of RentAHitman.com's customers never got close to actually committing the murder, what they did falls well within the scope of these laws. The bar for a crime is exceptionally low: a phone call or message to the character, along with a modicum of identifying information about a target, can be enough for an arrest. Once authorities became aware of the site, they worked in concert with Innes to set up stings that yielded a fair number of arrests.
Cases in Point
One of the most famous ones involved Jasmine Brown, who, in 2018, contacted RentAHitman.com to procure someone to kill a lady she said was threatening her safety. She provided personal information
about the intended victim, expecting her dark request to be fulfilled. Unbeknownst to her, she had walked straight into a law enforcement trap. After negotiating the price and logistics of the killing, Jasmine was arrested, charged with conspiracy to commit murder, and convicted.
Similarly, in 2023, a former Tennessee Air National Guardsman, Josiah Garcia, approached the site differently. Unlike seeking the murder of another, he tried to solicit a position for himself as an assassin. He mentioned military experience and said that he would make an excellent hitman. He too was arrested in another sting operation run by the FBI.
These cases tend to demonstrate that mere discussion of murder, plotting of murder, solicitation of a hitman, or volunteering to be a hitman could amount to very serious criminal charges. Individuals arrested via RentAHitman.com faced charges of solicitation of murder, conspiracy, and attempted murder charges. Most of them are currently serving several years in prison.
Legal Ramifications
The legal system takes solicitation of murder very seriously because of the potential for extreme harm, even if actualization does not occur. Courts around the country have been clear in their rulings: hiring or attempting to hire a hitman, even via a parody website like RentAHitman.com, is tantamount to conspiracy. The intent is clear, and the danger posed to society means that law enforcement agencies must take it seriously.
There are also broader questions raised by these cases. They show just how far some people will go in sidestepping the legal system to effect personal justice or revenge, even to the point of overlooking the laughable nature of a Web-based "hitman" service. Out of desperation, ignorance, or outright criminal purpose, such individuals fall into legal traps that reflect a most disturbing misconception of the law and the real-world consequences for their actions.
Conclusion
Solicitation to commit murder—even as a parody website—is nothing to make light of. The RentAHitman.com cases set a strong precedent that conspiracy and solicitation charges are nothing to sniff at, carrying with them years of potential jail time and life-changing repercussions. These legal precedents were clear-cut warnings to all those who believe one can slip through the law's grasp by doing their dirty work online.
In the end, RentAHitman.com has served not only to reveal darker corners of the internet but also acted as a strangely unique reminder of how much—in fact—the legal system can adapt and respond to modern crime. Its unintentional work as a honeypot for criminal intent serves as a staggering testimonial to parody's power in revealing dark corners of human nature and the unwavering reach of the law.
About the author
Kineshia is a student from Indonesia with a passion for psychology, art, and literature. She aspires to have a career in the field of psychology or psychiatry.
Resources:
- https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/98713/what-crime-have-you-committed-if-you-hire- an-assassin-but-cancel-the-contract
- https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/rent-a-hitman-wendy-wein-murder-for- hire-sting-operation-1066756/amp/