Duluth doctor who planned dark web murder-for-hire plot to kill girlfriend sentenced

WSBTV.com News Staff
·3 min read
8

A Duluth doctor convicted of using a dark web service to hire someone to kill his girlfriend was sentenced to serve time in federal prison.

James Wan, M.D., pled guilty to trying to pay a hitman to murder his girlfriend in October 2023, according to U.S. Justice Department officials.

U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said Wan used a dark web marketplace to pay someone to murder his girlfriend back in April 2022. Online, he provided her name, address, Facebook account information, license plate number and a description of her car.

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In the online request, Wan said the hitman should take her wallet, phone and car, according to Buchanan.

“Shoot and go. Or take car,” he said online before paying roughly $8,000 in Bitcoin at the dark web marketplace.

Two days later, Wan got in touch with the market’s administrator, saying the money he’d transferred as Bitcoin had not appeared in his escrow account.

After learning the money had not made it into the system, he sent the money again, saying “I guess I lost $8k,” in a message to the administrator. “I’m sending $8k to escrow now.”

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Once the funds were received, the administrator said the order for the hit could proceed, according to USDOJ.

“The administrator...asked whether Wan wanted it done as an ‘accident or normal shooting.’ Wan responded, ‘accident is better.’”

Justice officials said Wan transferred another $8,000 a week later to ensure his account had the total required to pay for the murder. Then he went online to ask how fast the hit would be carried out.

“How soon should work be done? I have submitted an order and curious how quickly it should be carried out? Is there a way I can find out any progress? If there is anyone in my location?” USDOJ said he asked online.

When the value of bitcoin fell the next month, May 2022, Wan put another $1,200 into his account to make sure he could fully pay for the killing, USDOJ said.

However, Wan’s murder plan wasn’t as secret as he thought.

“Despite his cowardly concealment on the dark web, Wan’s cold-hearted murderous plot was averted due to the exceptional work of our team. He will now face the full consequences of the criminal justice system,” Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta said after Wan pleaded guilty in October. “This case shows that the FBI will not tolerate heinous acts of violence and will go to great lengths to protect our citizens.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation had learned about the threat to his girlfriend’s life and notified her, giving her protection and questioning Wan. The Duluth doctor admitted to the FBI he’d placed an order for her murder and made the payments, which were corroborated by records taken from Wan’s cell phone and Bitcoin wallet.

Wan also canceled the order for his girlfriend’s murder after speaking with the FBI.

He pled guilty to a count of using a facility of interstate commerce to commission a murder-for-hire on Oct. 17, 2023. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to seven years and three months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

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