Physician Admits Utilizing Bitcoin to Engage Hitman in Murder Plan
Dr. James Wan, a physician based in Georgia, pleaded guilty to utilizing Bitcoin to plan a murder-for-hire plot through the dark web. According to him, the evil plan was shrouded by Bitcoin’s pseudonymous nature and entailed engaging a hitman to depict the idea that a botched carjacking incident caused his girlfriend’s death.
In a forum, the doctor asked how quickly the work should be done. He also said he had provided an order and wanted to know how fast it would be executed.
Bitcoin Used in Dark Web Murder
The doctor is awaiting his sentencing before a federal court in January next year. The Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed that Dr. James (not the celebrated director famous for the ‘Saw’ franchise) sought to have his girlfriend killed by a hitman hired from the dark web.
According to the department, the doctor’s journey into the dark web started in April last year. At this time, he began to accurately plot his girlfriend’s murder by offering a significant amount of information, including her vehicle’s description and Facebook account.
Numerous Bitcoin payments amounting to nearly $24200 were to be utilized to seal the deal. This came after Dr. James was compelled to resend a payment since he had used incorrect crypto wallet addresses.
The plan failed to go as well as the doctor expected. Earlier, he tried securing the murder-for-hire contract by moving a down payment of 50%, which was Bitcoin worth an estimated $8000, to an escrow wallet. Nevertheless, the transaction went wrong since the funds were transferred to the incorrect wallet address.
Doctor Admits to Hire Hitman
A week afterward, another Bitcoin transaction of $8000 was sent to ensure the escrow account had sufficient funds for the contract’s completion. The Department of Justice claimed that afterward, Dr James used the marketplace’s forum to ask questions. For instance, he questioned how fast the work should be done and if there was a means he could find out the work’s progress. He also asked if there was anybody in his location.
Despite his agitation, the plan was not executed. In a press release, Kei Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, said that despite the cowardly camouflage on the dark web, the team’s exceptional work prevented Dr. James’s wicked murder plan. He is now going to face the criminal justice system’s consequences.
Factors Contributing to Misuse of Crypto
The doctor is not the first example of an individual using Bitcoin to engage a killer. In 2021, a 41-year-old man from Utah was charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after paying Bitcoin amounting to $16000 for a double murder.
Additionally, an Italian man moved cryptocurrency worth €10,000 ($12,000) for an attack on his former girlfriend. He specified that the hitman should ‘pour acid in her face but not blind her.’
Earlier this year, a woman from Nevada got a 5-year jail sentence for utilizing Bitcoin to engage an assassin to murder her former husband. In June, another Tennessee lady was accused of trying to hire a killer, who requested payment in Bitcoin, to murder the spouse of a friend she met on Match.com.
