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Tag: Murder for hire

  • Jury convicts Florida matriarch in murder-for-hire killing of her former son-in-law

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    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The matriarch of a wealthy South Florida family was convicted Thursday of murder charges in the killing of her former son-in-law, a prominent law professor who was locked in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife when he was gunned down in 2014.

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    Associated Press

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  • Woman Allegedly Tried To Buy ‘Death Spell’ For Ex-Husband – Then Resorted To Murder-For-Hire – Perez Hilton

    Woman Allegedly Tried To Buy ‘Death Spell’ For Ex-Husband – Then Resorted To Murder-For-Hire – Perez Hilton

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    You know, even if this woman wasn’t going to prison we wouldn’t trust her as our pediatrician!

    Dr. Stephanie Russell was a beloved small town children’s doctor in Kentucky. She had an office totally decorated in Disney themes. Sounds like a sweet woman… until she was charged in a murder-for-hire plot, that is. Dr. Russell was arrested way back in May 2022 after allegedly trying to hire a hitman to kill her ex-husband. Apparently she was furious her ex, Rick Crabtree, had been awarded sole custody of their two children. But the murder didn’t work out. Turns out the person she spoke to online — and agreed to pay $7,000 to kill Crabtree — was actually an undercover FBI agent. Oops! Now she’s charged with one count of using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.

    But the case just took a very strange, magical turn…

    Related: Young Dad Accused Of Killing Daughter Tells Cops Baby Was ‘Not Real’

    Innerestingly, it was the defense who revealed this odd wrinkle in the case, per Law&Crime. They revealed a bevy of Whatsapp messages showing Stephanie didn’t jump right to a hitman. She first tried… voodoo? Witchcraft? We’re not sure which. But she reached out to the supernatural, in any case.

    In the messages, she speaks to someone going only by the name Mama, from whom she is discussing buying a “death spell” for her ex. She asks:

    “What is your success rate? Your price? Your guarantee?”

    “Mama” then responds with the disturbingly reassuring messages:

    • “death success rates are 85%”
    • “price depends on the number of people”
    • “100% guarantee or money back”

    Ultimately they land on $580 for a death spell for just one guy. With the money back guarantee? Damn, that seems like a reasonable deal. But that wasn’t enough for Steph. The not-so-good doctor asks for more specifics about the spell, even referencing animal sacrifice and the Afro-Brazilian religious tradition known as Quimbanda. But Mama shuts her down, saying simply:

    “It’s a death spell my dear not a love spell. i can’t tell you inside details but i will do your job.”

    But Dr. Russell didn’t stop there. For someone willing to believe in spells she could purchase, she stayed dubious — seemingly determined not to be an easy mark. She may have been new to the sorcery game, but she did what any savvy buyer would do. She shopped around.

    She messaged someone just known as “Spiritual Healer” with the prompt that she was “looking for a death spell.” This one told her:

    “Yes I will cast death Spell for you.”

    She actually did get a better offer here, $430, only half up front, and the promise of “100% result in 6hours.” But Russell refused to pay up front at all, pleading with the Spiritual Healer, “Can I please pay after? I cannot afford to pay without results.”

    The Spiritual Healer actually drops to $150 up front, citing the need to pay for the ingredients for the spell. The doc haggles down to $50. Amazing. Finally getting the price she wanted, Stephanie gives the magician her ex’s name and photo. However, she wants one more assurance — that this won’t involve Quimbanda. Spiritual Healer answers that it will be Voodoo only.

    That seems to be that. But she reaches out to a third person going by “Sk” — this one tells her no, it’s not Quimbanda but rather “indian vedic magic.” But after Stephanie sends the name and photo, Sk actually advises her against using a death spell. Still, she tells them:

    “The only way we will have peace is if he dies.”

    But Sk warns her that “killing him etc is going to harm you and family as he has some type of protection on him.” They say he is actually “into black magic” — and as such suggest she purchase a “banishing spell only.” Dr. Russell forces the issue, asking:

    “Is there anything you can do to cause the death?”

    They don’t seem to want to touch it. And of course we know where she ended up after the magic didn’t pan out for her — hiring an undercover fed.

    So why did the defense offer all this? Doesn’t it kind of prove she was trying to pay someone to kill Crabtree, even if it was through unorthodox means? Well, they argue it proves Russell wasn’t in her right mind. They’re arguing she didn’t have the mental capacity to be convicted of the crime she’s charged with — essentially because she was crazy enough to try to use magic!

    “Ms. Russell’s mental health was severely disturbed, from both the empirical and clinical perspectives, when she engaged in the conduct alleged in the indictment… In March 2022, Ms. Russell reached out to self-described spiritualists for help, asking (with all credulity) for a ‘death spell’ on her ex-husband.”

    We appreciate the legal curveball, but… will it work? One would have to be out of their mind to believe a spell could actually work, but then again, enough people believe in all sorts of supernatural things and just call it having faith in their religion, so… if she’s crazy, are all religious followers? We’ll have to see what the court thinks. The trial is set to begin April 22 in Louisville.

    What do YOU think, Perezcious readers? Does this make her more guilty? Less? Mentally incapable? Or just eccentric? Tell us your thoughts in the comments (below)!

    [Image via Oldham County Detention Center/Netflix/YouTube.]

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    Perez Hilton

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  • Nephew of NYC murder-for-hire suspect hoped killing would be ‘shortcut to success’

    Nephew of NYC murder-for-hire suspect hoped killing would be ‘shortcut to success’

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    The nephew of a Manhattan property developer accused of paying to have his disloyal protégé whacked said he helped his uncle plan the killing because he saw it as his “shortcut to success.”

    Taking the stand in Brooklyn Federal Court, government cooperator You You told jurors his uncle, Qui Ming “Allen” Yu, 55, called him into a meeting in Kissena Park in Queens and made an extraordinary ask — he wanted his former employee killed.

    Yu is on trial for ordering the Feb. 12, 2019 execution of his former worker, Xin “Chris” Gu — who left his company the previous August and took several high-ticket clients and employees with him.

    Court Evidence

    Quin Ming “Allen” Yu, left, and victim Xin “Chris” Gu. (Court Evidence)

    The jilted businessman tapped his nephew to plan the killing, and asked You to bring his street-savvy weed supplier and friend, Zhe Zhang, along for the ride, You told the jury Thursday.

    “I agreed,” You testified. “At the time, I feel it was the right thing to do and I feel it was a shortcut to success and I took it.”

    You, 35, who took the stand on Wednesday and Thursday, worked with Gu, 31, at his uncle’s company, and never much cared for the man, he said.

    “We were kind of like frenemies,” he added. “We acted like we was cool … He didn’t like me, I didn’t like him.”

    Prosecutors say Yu paid his nephew $150,000 to plot the murder, which took place after Gu treated his employees to a Lunar New Year party at a Flushing restaurant. Gu was gunned down while leaving the after-party at a nearby karaoke bar.

    Zhang, 35, was lured in with a promise that Yu would hand over his business so he and You could make millions in the apartment renovation trade, the nephew said. That promise never materialized, and You kept the $150,000 for himself — paying $100,000 he owed to another weed connect and spending the rest on himself, he said.

    Part of that money went to a fancy BMW, and an exotic pet, a $5,000 finger monkey. He and Zhang each bought one of the tiny simians — “He got the female, I got the male,” You testified.

    Prosecutors allege that Zhang served as the getaway driver and recruited the trigger man, Antony Abreu, 35, paying him with a pricey Richard Mille watch. Abreu is slated to go on trial at a later date.

    Trial starts for NYC developer accused of ordering death of disloyal employee.

    Obtained by Daily News

    Alleged triggerman Antony Abreu, 35, captured on video before allegedly shooting his victim.

    During his testimony, You discussed his criminal past — how he came to the U.S. from China at age 12 with his parents, started experimenting with drugs and selling pot as a teenager, then joining the Mo Ming Pai gang. He used ketamine on a daily basis for about two years starting in 2008, he said.

    He also committed robberies with his fellow gang members, including his childhood best friend David “Potato” Yu, who he pulled into the murder scheme without telling his co-conspirators, he testified.

    You took the jury through several months of text messages between him and Zhang in the lead-up to the early-a.m. killing. He said he rented an Enterprise van so he wouldn’t use his own car, bought burner phones, then met with Abreu and Zhang the day of the party.

    Ultimately, he got skittish, he said, and drove the van up the block and away from Zhang and Abreu, supposedly so he and David Yu could keep an eye out for police. You said he “took a little nap” while he waited.

    “David woke me up. That’s when the shooting happened,” You said, recalling how his friend told him, “Mister, mister! They did it, they really did it! We’ve gotta go.”

    A month later, You, his uncle and Zhang met at an upstate Buddhist temple to discuss the killing, and how they’d get paid, he said.

    Police at the scene where a man was shot multiple times on 131 Street near Avery Avenue in Flushing on February 12, 2019. The incident occurred just after 2:30AM in the 109 Pct confines. The victim is believed to be an Asian male, likely to expire from his injuries and the shooter was wearing a teal mask and fled in a vehicle with Virginia temporary plates onto the Horace Harding Expressway. The investigation is ongoing. ( Vic Nicastro for New York Daily News )

    Vic Nicastro for New York Daily News

    Police are pictured at the scene where a man was shot multiple times on 131st St. near Avery Ave. in Flushing, Queens, on Feb. 12, 2019.

    Yu’s lawyer, James Kasourous, tried to carve into You’s credibility during his cross-examination — pointing out how he “used” his childhood friend, David Yu, by putting him into dangerous situations like making him rob drug deals he was involved in.

    He also grilled You about his relationship with his uncle and whether he felt he lost his job at the property development company because of Gu’s ambitions.

    “You had problems with Chris,” Kasourous said “You thought it was him being two-faced.”

    You replied, “I  see right through what he was doing. It was just that Allen couldn’t see it.”

    You left his uncle’s company after a blow-out in May 2018, though he insisted on the stand he quit and wasn’t fired. He didn’t speak to Yu again until he was in the hospital in September, a month before the alleged murder plot began.

    Kasourous asked You about a statement he made to investigators that he resented and hated his uncle after losing his job.

    “I wouldn’t say I hate him,” You said. “I was angry.”

    You’s testimony was scheduled to continue Friday.

     

     

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    John Annese

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