Accountant Sentenced For Attempted Hired Hit On Ex's New Wife, Payment Made In Bitcoin

A Florida accountant has been sentenced to serve six years in prison for trying to hire a hitman and pay him in bitcoin to kill her ex's new spouse.

A federal judge sentenced DeAnna Marie Stinson, 51, to six and a half years of prison on Wednesday after she pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire earlier this year, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Federal agents arrested the Tampa-based woman back in September, claiming she had attempted to use a so-called "dark web" site "that purported to provide murder-for-hire services to its customers” back in June. The day after she set up an account on that site, according to the press release, Stinson submitted an “order” to request that her ex’s current spouse be killed.

“In the order, Stinson provided the victim’s name, address, and a photograph of the victim,” a previous press release from the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida stated. “Between June and July 2021, Stinson sent four additional orders and more than $12,000 in Bitcoin to effectuate the hit.”

DeAnna Stinson Photo: Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office

U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday also sentenced Stinson to serve three years of supervised release after she completes her prison time. She will also have to pay more than $12,000 in restitution.

Merryday told the court that coming to a proper punishment for the woman was a difficult task for him, as he described Stinson as having a dual personality: an educated businesswoman who loved her friends, and a “calculating” and “brazen” opportunist, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

“It is true these two people exist,” Merryday said. “They are actually the same person.”

In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Thelwell showed screenshots from the website that Stinson tried to use to arrange the murder. “Death by shooting,” was listed at a minimum of $5,000 while “Death by sniper” was $20,000. The site, however, was a scam.

Officials had claimed that Stinson even “repeatedly messaged administrators” of the site, which has not been named, requesting the job be completed as soon as possible. Furthermore, she offered a “bonus” if the hit was completed by a certain date, the press release states.

In late July, she requested that the administrators “reassign the job to someone who has a history of getting jobs done” because she required that it be "done ASAP,” according to the feds.

A federal agent then contacted Stinson while posing as a hitman for the site. That recorded call was played in court.

“In a recorded phone call, Stinson confirmed that she wanted the victim killed and agreed to send additional money to the undercover agent via Bitcoin so that the transaction could not be traced,” the press release states. “On September 13, 2021, Stinson sent $350 in Bitcoin to the undercover agent so that the agent could purchase a revolver to commit the murder.”

The victim was not named in any of the court documents.