Ovid woman sent to prison for soliciting murder of ex’s girlfriend
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POCATELLO — A woman who attempted to hire a hitman off a parody website to kill her ex-husband’s new girlfriend has been sentenced to 90 months in a federal prison for soliciting murder.
DeAnn Parkin, 31, of Ovid (in Bear Lake County), pleaded guilty to the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire earlier this year, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“While the defendant’s scheme to arrange a murder is shocking, it should not be surprising that law enforcement — in this case the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) — was in a position to stop it,” U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit says in the release. “Along with our partners, we will continue to hold violent offenders accountable, regardless of the nature of their criminal conduct.”
Parkin was “motivated by personal grievances,” the release says, when she went to the parody website RentAHitman.com in search of someone to kill the woman, who lives in Wyoming.
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Rent-A-Hitman
The Rent-A-Hitman website advertises itself as being the “Point and Click Solution” and “100% HIPPA (Hitman Information Privacy and Protection Act of 1964) compliant,” according to the site’s landing page.
The website includes a “customer testimonial” section, complete with comments and attached (blurred) images.
According to the site, Phil M., from Florida, had this to say:
“Guido and his public relations crew at RENT-A-HITMAN were able to resolve a five-year dispute in a matter of days. Highly recommended!”
It also advertises “discount packages” for groups, seniors, military and Walmart associates, and a nod to Joseph Allen Maldonado — aka Joe Exotic — with an additional 10% off if you mention “Cool Cats and Kittens.”
‘Nefarious plans’
Parkin provided detailed information about the intended victim and expressed urgency in email exchanges with moderators at the site between May 14 and 22, 2023, according to the release.
“Over several days, Parkin persistently and unequivocally conveyed her desire for the murder to be carried out,” the release says.
The ATF received a tip regarding her attempts and launched an undercover operation.
On June 6, 2023, Parkin met with an undercover ATF agent in person, providing a down payment of $100 and the agreement to provide a diamond ring as payment upon completion of the murder.
Parkin texted the undercover agent that she had $500 “saved up for this.” She also said that she could not be linked to the murder, for fear of losing the custody of her children.
In text messages sent to the agent, which have not been edited for spelling or punctuation, Parkin says: “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.”
She was arrested after the $100 downpayment was exchanged.
“The act of murder is in itself a heinous crime,” ATF Seattle Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Blais says in the release. “But the act of attempting to hire someone to commit murder is that much more egregious. When ATF learns of a murder-for-hire plot, we will do all we can to thwart these nefarious plans.”
Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill said after her prison sentence of seven and a half years, Parkin will be placed on supervised release for an additional three years.
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