#Michigan woman tried to use fake hitman website to kill ex-husband: cops

A Michigan woman tried to have her ex-husband killed for $5,000 by contacting a fake hitman website, state police said.

Wendy Wein, 51, of South Rockwood, was arrested Friday after she visited a bogus website — www.rentahitman.com — and completed a “service request form” requesting a consultation to help her with an “issue,” Michigan State Police said Tuesday.

“Wein specified her ex-husband as the target of her problems,” police said in a news release. “The owner of the website contacted the Michigan State Police because he was concerned that Wein may be attempting to kill her husband.”

An undercover state trooper posing as a hitman then met with Wein in a parking lot in her hometown, police said.

At the meeting, Wein offered the undercover trooper $5,000 to kill her ex-husband, who lives in another state, police said.

Wein was arraigned Tuesday on charges of solicitation to commit murder and illegal use of a computer to facilitate a crime. She was ordered held at a Monroe County jail on $500,000 bond, the Monroe News reports.

Since launching the fake website in 2005, the owner of http://www.rentahitman.com told investigators he had been contacted numerous times by people requesting murders, school shootings and even a child abduction, state police said.

“He claims the website has been responsible for preventing over 130 murders because he refers all requests for hitmen over to law enforcement,” state police said.

The website, which even features bogus customer testimonials, is billed as a “point & click solution” for those looking to solve a “problem that needs resolving.”

“This form is valid for one individual only,” the site’s service request form reads. “If you have multiple targets, please submit multiple forms for processing.”

Michigan State Police Lt. Brian Oleksyk told WJBK he was shocked that Wein allegedly thought the website was authentic.

“I can’t believe someone would think that a website like this exists,” Oleksyk told the station.

But the man who runs the site, Bob Innes, said he isn’t surprised at all, claiming he got two new murder-for-hire requests on Tuesday. He started the site as a class project in 2005, he said.

“In 2008 I go back into the inbox to check the emails and I’m shocked there are 250-300 emails from people around the world asking for asset extraction,” Innes told WJBK.