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Culpeper woman pleads guilty in Bitcoin murder-for-hire plot, faces three years in prison

bitcoin A Culpeper who went online to hire a hitman using Bitcoin pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire plot on Wednesday.

Annie Nicole Ritenour, 27, faces a minimum of three years in prison on the plea for using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire.

According to court documents, Ritenour, in 2021, accessed a website on the dark web whose advertisements boasted the ability to “kill any person you want as long as it is not a president or very important person that is guarded by the military.”

On June 26, 2021, Ritenour set up an account with the website and placed an “order” for murder-for-hire services. The order was titled, “shoot and get away.”

With her order, Ritenour included a picture of the intended victim, his workplace address, and his work hours. She also included the following instructions:

I am just looking for a simple quick job. The address of the person will be best place to make the target, as it is his workplace. He works 6am to 3 pm Monday through Friday….

Ritenour also included a description of the victim’s vehicle and license plate number. After placing the order, Ritenour made three separate payments via Bitcoin to the website’s “escrow account” totaling $3,200.

She was arrested before the balance of payment could be made.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].