The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has determined that a woman originally from Wisconsin entered an illegal site on the dark web with the intention of hiring a hit man. Kelly Harper, 37, was arrested on February 5 after being charged by the person she was trying to murder.
The potential victim was in his residence accompanied by two journalists who had long been investigating cases of hired murders concreted via dark web when they made the report to the Sun Prairie Police. These journalists disclose evidence of a conversation between the alleged dark web market manager and a potential client, who wanted to order the murder of a person in Wisconsin. This client turned out to be Harper, who had already provided some details about the target.
Investigators redacted a paper detailing the defendant’s plans, including full transcripts of her conversations with website operators, which occurred during the first two weeks of December 2020. This document shows that the alleged hit man already had extensive knowledge of the victim: “He is a white man about 5 feet tall; short, brown hair; blue eyes,” Harper mentioned in one of their chat sessions.
The defendant also shared some photographs of the victim, his home, his car and details about his daily habits and routines.
The dark web platform manager asked the defendant for a Bitcoin transfer of approximately $5,000 USD. After the potential victim was informed about the conspiracy, his girlfriend filed a complaint with the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center. Bryan Baker, FBI Special Agent, met with three reporters trying to get a clearer view of this incident. Journalists confirmed the veracity of the report, recommending that the authorities order special protection for the threatened individual.
“Through an analysis of the conversations between the defendant and the operators of this platform, as well as evidence such as a cryptocurrency transaction made in October 2020 we were able to conclude that this is a real pay-killing service,” Special Agent Baker notes mention.
During her arrest and break-in, Baker interviewed Harper, who admitted to making a cryptocurrency transfer to pay a murderer for hire on the dark web to murder the individual in question. The defendant is currently in custody in Dane County Jail. In case of being found guilty Harper faces a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison.
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