BEDFORD, Texas — A Bedford woman who tried to hire a hitman to kill her boyfriend’s lover was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison, federal officials say.
Michelle Murphy, 58, was charged in September 2023 then pleaded guilty in December 2023 to one count of murder for hire, officials say.
Murphy attempted to pay a hitman $10,510 in Bitcoin via the dark web to murder her boyfriend’s lover, according to court documents.
Blockchain analysis showed Murphy used an ATM to convert cash to cryptocurrency on at least three occasions and on July 27, 2023, transferred $10,510, officials say.
When agents questioned Murphy and her boyfriend, Murphy admitted she’d found out her boyfriend was seeing another woman and she’d tried to hire a hitman to kill the woman, according to federal officials.
At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that it appeared the person who accepted the money from Murphy likely never intended to carry out the murder, according to a news release.
Homeland Security Investigations investigated the incident with the assistance of the Bedford, Euless, Grapevine, and Hurst Police Departments.
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