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Woman Pleads Guilty After Using Satirical Website To Order Ex-Husband’s Murder
The parody website, "Rent-A-Hitman," has helped prevent murders and other crimes, according to its creator.
A woman has pleaded guilty after authorities say she used a phony website to hire a hitman to kill her ex-husband.
On Friday, Wendy Lynn Wein, 52, pleaded guilty to charges of solicitation for murder and using a computer to commit a crime, according to Fox 2 Detroit. The Michigan woman was accused of creating a fake name and logging into a website called "Rent-A-Hitman" to hire someone to murder her ex-husband in 2020.
The satirical website, which offers a tongue-in-cheek service to “find the ideal solution for your particular situation,” turned Wein’s request over to Michigan State Police, according to Fox 2 Detroit. Bob Innes, the site’s creator, claimed he asked Wein two questions: Would Wein still require his services, and would she like to meet up with a field operative.
Wein said "yes" to both.
Wein initially used a pseudonym when applying, but entered her real name upon finalizing her “service request.”
“We utilized an undercover trooper to set up a meet in the parking lot,” said Michigan State Police Lt. Brian Oleksyk, according to Fox 2. “I can’t believe someone would think that a website like this exists.”
Investigators say Wein gave the undercover trooper a $200 down payment, promising a total of $5,000 once the murder of her ex was complete. She provided the officer with the would-be victim’s home address, work address, and work schedule.
Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney Michael G. Roehrig spoke with Oxygen.com about the peculiarity of the case.
“This is a one-off case. I’ve been a prosecutor for about 30 years and I never encountered a situation quite like this,” said Roehrig. “Not that we haven’t had other cases where people sought to hire someone to kill a former fill-in-the-blank, but it’s a little unusual when they do so on a website, especially a website like this … that, I believe, is a parody site.”
The website, which glibly complies with the Hitman Information Privacy Protection Act of 1964 (HIPPA), has been published since 2005, according to Fox 2. Innes claims his site has prevented more than 130 murders because he reports the earnest inquiries to law enforcement, including school shootings, infant abductions, and murders-for-hire like the one requested by Wein.
“I really didn’t think people were gonna be that stupid,” Innes said in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine. “It was not my intention to set up a snare for some people.”
Innes, who describes himself as an “IT guy with a passion for being a kitchen detective,” spoke with the magazine about how many actual requests he gets.
“I run a spreadsheet of the requests that I’ve received. About 350 requests are on that spreadsheet,” said Innes. “Not all of them are for murder-for-hire. Some of them are assisted suicide options. Some of them are clearly hoaxes where they’re trying to prank their friend … and out of the 350, about 10 percent are seeking to cause harm to others.”
Innes claims he asks those people the same two questions he asked Wein: whether or not his services are still required and if he should arrange a meeting to further their request.
“If I never hear back from them, maybe they have figured it out,” he continued. “But if they respond back with ‘yes,’ ‘OK, I’ll put you in contact with the field operatives. I’ll be your matchmaker.’”
Wendy Wein will be formally sentenced on Jan 13, 2022, and faces a maximum of nine years.
