A woman pleaded guilty in federal court in Philadelphia for hiring a hitman on the Internet to kill her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend, The Jersey Journal reported.
The jealous woman, Marissa Mark of Jersey City, N.J., tried to use stolen credit cards for a $19,000 down payment in 2006 to have the California girlfriend murdered by a contract killer she found on the now defunct hitmanforhire.com website, The Philadelphia Inquirer said.
The killer would get another $18,000 after rubbing out the woman, Anne Lauryn Royston, The Morning Call said.
But Mark's plans fell apart because the assassin was allegedly reluctant to carry out the murder. Essam Eid, of Las Vegas, hesitated because the would-be victim reminded him of his daughter, The Journal said.
Another snag came when Paypal, the website Mark attempted to use to transfer funds to Eid, refused to carry out the transaction, The Daily Mail reported.
Eid, later arrested in Ireland, didn't exactly have a heart of gold, however. Using the alias "Tony Luciano," he offered to kill Mark if Royston and her boyfriend Joshua Hammond paid him $18,000, The Morning Call reported. The couple turned down that bloody proposal. Eid returned with final offer to call off the hit on Royston if the pair came up with $18,000.
It's unclear if the couple succumbed to Eid's threats. The Inquirer reported that Eid claimed Royston paid $20,000 in protection money, but The Morning Call said Eid's negotiations with Royston didn't bear fruit.
In any case, Royston and Hammonds notified police about the unfolding murder conspiracy, which led to Mark's arrest in Jersey City this year.
Mark, who collected dozens of photos of Royston, faces 56 years in prison for conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire, use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire, three counts of aggravated identity theft, attempted access-device fraud, and aiding and abetting, according to The Inquirer .
Eid has been extradited to California.