By Larissa Hoppe
These descriptions of the public prosecutor’s office sound like scenes from a horror film! A 28-year-old is in love with a man. But he has a partner and does not return the love. The 28-year-old’s plan: the crush’s partner should die. So he searches the dark web for a hitman – and falls for a scam.
According to the prosecutor, the accused is said to have fallen in love with the man in 2020. That love reportedly went “essentially unrequited.”
Initial attempts to win the man’s love by means of “witch curses” that can be booked online were unsuccessful.
The fact that the beloved then moved into a shared apartment with his partner at the end of 2021 is said to have further increased the 28-year-old’s jealousy.
In February 2022, he is said to have finally made the decision to have his rival killed, according to the public prosecutor.
The 28-year-old is said to have registered on the Darknet with a website that allegedly mediates contract killings. There he is said to have deposited the name, address and personal description as well as later photos of his victim. According to prosecutors, the 28-year-old wanted the whole thing to look like a robbery or an accident.
On March 7, 2022, the first award of around $9,000 in bitcoins is said to have taken place. On March 12 and 15, 2022, the 28-year-old is said to have further increased the amount.
Then the offer seemed to catch on. On March 18, 2022, the website administrator announced that the rival would be killed on March 23.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, this was followed by what usually happens with fraud on the Internet: “Offer, payment, non-performance, excuses, new offer, further payment…”
The search for contract killers continued
The 28-year-old is said to have learned on March 21 that the murderer who had been hired had been arrested. But with a corresponding increase in wages, another assassin would be ready to step in. The accused is said to have responded again that the order was confirmed on March 28, 2022. The accused had now paid around $ 24,000.
But the new killer didn’t take action either. The 28-year-old complained.
On April 3, 2022, he is said to have asserted “non-performance of the contract”. But he didn’t want his money back. Instead, he is said to have demanded the commissioning of another contract killer. According to the public prosecutor’s office “with the promising name ‘Felix Fleischer'”.
On April 4, 2022, the administrator then revealed to the 28-year-old that he had fallen for a fraudulent site. There is therefore no money back, but he can offer himself as a contract killer on the website and in turn cheat supposed customers.
The 28-year-old is said to have picked this up while he was researching other ways of hiring contract killers on the dark web.
How did it all come to an end? An investigative journalist submitted her research findings to the police. The 28-year-old was identified – arrest!
He has been in custody since April 9, 2022. The Berlin public prosecutor’s office has now filed charges against the 28-year-old for attempting to incite the insidious murder out of greed.