SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man entered a guilty plea Wednesday for using the Internet to solicit and pay for the murders of two New York residents in 2021.
Christopher Pence, 43, from Cedar City, was arrested in October 2021 by the FBI and has been in federal custody since then.
The intended victims were not harmed as a result of Pence's actions.
Pence admitted on Wednesday that in the summer of 2021, he accessed a website on the Darknet dedicated to "hire 'hitmen' to kill real individuals," documents state.
Court records report Pence arranged and paid $16,000 worth of Bitcoin for the murders of two residents of Hoosick Falls, New York through the website.
After paying, Pence said he sent the names, addresses and pictures of the two individuals to the website administrator and asked that the murders be staged to look like an accident or botched robbery. He also requested that the three children who lived with the two victims not be harmed, documents state.
Interviews revealed Pence and the intended victims were involved in an "escalating dispute" regarding the custody of several children, documents report.
The U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of New York said Pence faces up to ten years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release of up to three years.
He will be sentenced on April 2, 2024.
