A California man admitted to paying a hitman he found on the darkweb $13,000 in bitcoin to murder a woman he met online, authorities said.
Scott Quinn Berkett, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire, the US Department of Justiceon Monday.
Berkett met the woman, whose identity has not been released, online in October of 2020 before inviting her out to meet him in Los Angeles, where he lived, according to the DOJ.
While there, Berkett became ‘sexually aggressive’ toward the woman, prompting to cut ties with him following the trip. Months later, in April 2021, a relative of the woman who learned Berkett was still contacting her reached out to his father and was told to ‘consider this matter closed.’
Later that month, Berkett then contacted a group found on the darkweb advertising murder-for-hire services.
‘I’d like it to look like an accident, but robbery gone wrong may work better. So long as she is dead. I’d also like for her phone to be retrieved and destroyed irreparably in the process,’ Berkett wrote to the darkweb group.
While law enforcement officials believe the group he contacted to be a scam, the group contacted a media outlet, which provided the information to the FBI.
Berkett gave out the woman’s personal information on the darkweb, including her email address, social media handles and a description of her unique tattoo.
‘As payment for the victim’s murder, Berkett (sent) the darknet group Bitcoin payments totaling approximately $13,000,’ the DOJ wrote in a press release.
An undercover FBI agent then contacted Berkett while pretending to be the hitman he hired from the darkweb.
The FBI agent sent Berkett the photos of the woman and Berkett ‘confirmed that the pictures showed his intended victim and that he made Bitcoin payments to obtain her murder.’
He then asked for proof of her murder and sent a final Bitcoin payment of $1,000.
Berkett confessed to looking for a hitman on the darkweb and paying for murder-for-hire services in May 2021. He is set to be sentenced on September 12 and could face up to 10 years in federal prison.
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