25-year-old ‘looking for a simple quick job’ tries hiring hit man with bitcoin, feds say

A 25-year-old woman in Virginia is accused of trying to employ a hit man on a website advertising murder-for-hire services.

There was just one hiccup: “(The website) never actually delivered on the promised services after receiving payment from its customers,” federal prosecutors said.

Annie Nicole Ritenour, of Culpeper, Virginia, was arrested Wednesday and charged with one count of solicitation to commit a crime of violence and one count of murder-for-hire, prosecutors in the Western District of Virginia said in a news release.

Ritenour faces up to 20 years in prison if she’s convicted.

Culpeper is a town of about 18,000 people roughly 74 miles outside of Washington, D.C.

A public defender appointed to represent Ritenour did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Thursday.

U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said the charges point to a need for better policing of the dark web, where Ritenour is alleged to have found the murder-for-hire website.

“The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia has made cybercrime a priority for this exact reason, and this murder-for-hire plot serves as an example of why we need to remain vigilant in the policing of those dark corners of the web where cybercrime thrives,” Kavanaugh said in the release.

According to an affidavit filed by a Charlottesville FBI agent in support of the charges, law enforcement was tipped off in September by the FBI in Knoxville after a “confidential human source” reached out with information from a murder-for-hire website.

“”[W]e can kill any person you want, as long as it is not a president or very important person that is guarded by the military,” advertisements on the the website reportedly read. The site claimed the hit man can “make the murder look accidental, so that police will not suspect anyone.”

Law enforcement determined the website accepts payments for a hit but doesn’t act on it, the agent said.

Communications between Ritenour and the website administrator started at the end of June. Agents said messages show she placed an order titled “shoot and get away” with a photo of the person she wanted killed and the address of the department store where he worked. Investigators did not identify the intended target.

“I am just looking for a simple quick job,” she said, according to the affidavit. “The address of the person will be the best place to make the target, as it’s his workplace.”

The agent said Ritenour also disclosed what time the intended target works, the type of car he drives and his license plate number.

“The days/time I mentioned will be the best time and place,” her message read. “I would say wait until he’s off at 3 and then make your move.”

Ritenour sent about $3,200 worth of bitcoins to arrange the hit, according to the affidavit.

Investigators were able to identify Ritenour using financial transactions from a cryptocurrency exchange business she reportedly used to convert her money into Bitcoin.

Prosecutors filed the criminal complaint on Monday and Ritenour was arrested Wednesday, court filings show.

A judge ordered she remain in custody until a bond hearing at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Inmate’s murder-for-hire plot falls apart when he mails letter to wrong person, feds say

Husband paid hit man in Bitcoin to kill his wife — but BBC tipped off the FBI, feds say

Ex-boyfriend in prison offers COVID check to hitman to kill woman, Utah officials say