An Idaho woman who believed her family was "ruined" by her ex-husband's affair with another woman and hired a hitman to kill her, was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison.
DeAnn Parkin, 31, of Ovid, Idaho, was sentenced on charges of soliciting murder, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced last week.
Parkin Tried to Solicit Hitman from Parody Website, Said She Wanted to Make Victim 'Disappear'
According to court records, on May 23, 2023, special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) received a tip from a reliable source regarding Parkin, attempting to hire a hitman through a parody website offering murder-for-hire services.
"I would like (her) to stay away from my husband and my family," Parkin wrote in her submission to the website, according to the affidavit, and explained the woman "helped ruin our family and broken it up with her drug abuse and her prostitution services." Parkin had separated from her husband two years earlier, in 2021, after eight years of marriage, according to prosecutors.
Parkin provided detailed information about that victim and expressing urgency in email exchanges with the website's administrators.
"Take her to another continent or make her disappear completely where no one hears from her again anything to make her go aways for good please and thank you," one of Parkin's emails said, according to the affidavit.
Undercover operations began on May 23, with an undercover agent introducing himself to Parkin as a hitman. The undercover agent communicated with Parkin as a hitman through text messages and calls.
Parkin Paid the 'Hitman' with a Diamond Ring, $100 Cash
"I just want her gone and not ruining my family no more," the Idaho resident wrote in messages to the undercover agent. Parkin met with the agent in June to provide a payment to have the woman killed, according to an affidavit, which says she paid with a diamond ring she said was worth $1,500, as well as $100 in cash.
When the agent, posing as the hitman, asked Parkin if she hoped her ex-husband would "come back to her" after the job was completed, Parkin said, "Yeah that would be nice," an affidavit says.
She was arrested after the meeting, federal prosecutors said. On Jan. 9, Parkin pleaded guilty to the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, according to prosecutors.
