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MONTPELIER, Idaho – An Idaho woman is being federally prosecuted after police say she hired a hit man who turned out to be an undercover special agent.
Deann Parkin, 30, of Bear Lake County, has been charged in federal court with using interstate commerce to facilitate a murder-for-hire plot after allegedly reaching out to a website to kill her ex-husband's new girlfriend, who lives in Wyoming.
According to the New York Post, Parkin allegedly visited the website RentAHitman.com, which is a parody website, to try and find someone to murder her ex-husband's new girlfriend.
Parkin provided her Idaho address and phone number, along with the name of the "target," according to court documents obtained by EastIdahoNews.com.
She stated in the application (spelling and punctuation unedited), "I would like (the intended victim) to stay away from my husband and my family. She has helped ruin our family and broken it up with her drug abuse and her prostitution services. She has ruined her autistic son life and leaves him with strangers along w my husband to take care of him and uses her son to get my husband to come back to her and then get him more hooked on meth so she can go out and do her own thing while breaking other families lives."
The website owner turned the information over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which opened an official investigation on May 23.
Also in the application, Parkin allegedly described the services she was looking to pay for by saying, "Make her go away where she won't ruin no one's lives no more stops contacting my husband, give her son a better life. She has ruined my family life enough that who knows if it's even possible to be fixed. Take her to another continent or make her disappear completely where no one hears from her again anything to make her go aways for good please and thank you."
A special agent with ATF then went undercover, pretending to be a hit man who agreed to provide the services Parkin was looking for, officials said.
Text message conversations between the agent and Parkin shown in court documents detail Parkin saying she has "500 saved up for this" and that she "can't have this get to the cops or no one I can't loose my kids."
According to court documents, Parkin paid $100 cash and a diamond ring she claimed was valued at $1,500 as a down payment to carry out the killing.
On May 24, the agent and Parkin spoke on the phone while the agent was secretly recording. During the discussion, Parkin allegedly stated she was "willing to do anything" regarding her problem and that she "did not care if it means her being in a six-foot hole … I'm fine with that."
On June 1, Parkin and the agent agreed to meet at Parkin's workplace in Bear Lake County. She also allegedly stated, "If this can happen fast that be awesome! I just found out that she is in the process of moving back here I'm trying to find out where she's moving to exactly."
On June 6, the agent wore audio and video recording equipment and met Parkin at her workplace. When they arrived, Parkin allegedly said she was "100 percent sure on it" and showed the agent a photo of the intended victim.
The agent then asked Parkin if she wanted the intended victim to be found, to which she allegedly answered, "Nope." The agent asked if Parkin wanted it to look like a suicide, to which Parkin responded, "Whatever is easiest. If you want to make it look like a suicide, she is a prostitute too," court documents said.
As they talked, the agent asked if Parkin wished for her ex-husband to return after the murder-for-hire was finished. Parkin said yes, and then stated, "I could care less if anything happens to the kid. I don't know your preference on kids," court documents said.
The next day, the agent again met with Parkin, who allegedly paid him $100, a diamond ring that she valued at $1,500, and agreed to pay the remainder on an installment plan. The agent then left, and Parkin was arrested by law enforcement.
Parkin is being held at the Jefferson County Jail on a U.S. marshals' hold. Marshals are not releasing a mugshot at this time.
An initial appearance was held on June 8, but it is unclear when further court proceedings will be held.
If convicted, Parkin could face up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
