Las Cruces man tried to hire a hitman online for $200

A Las Cruces man faces a decade in prison after being caught in a murder for hire scheme.

Leif Everett Hayman recently pleaded guilty to a single count of "use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-to-hire."

The scheme began in 2022 when court documents alleged Hayman logged on to rentahitman.com three times asking for someone to kill his girlfriend's mother.

Neither the woman's nor her daughter's name was released to the public by the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, but a search of New Mexico court documents revealed a request for an order of protection filed July 2022 in Grant County against Hayman by Margaret Humble and Danielle Rae Trujillo.

In the request, the women cite the criminal case against Hayman and list his attempt to hire a hitman as reason for the order.

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rentahitman.com

Rentahitman.com, according to Wikipedia, is a satirical website that offers the chance to hire a hitman. The "Service Request" page of the website offers choices such as "legal and alibi department," "employment inquiries," and "service request cancellations." Merchandise is available for purchase on the website.

Once logged on, Hayman offered Humble's photograph and address along with his request to have her killed.

According to court documents, the website forwarded Hayman's information along with details from his request to Las Cruces Police Department, and when it did not receive a response, sent the information to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

"Following those three service requests, Hayman sent numerous follow-up emails to the website between April 20 and May 2 … In those emails, Leif expressed that he was losing patience with how long the process was taking," a news release from the U.S. Attorney District of New Mexico read.

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Hayman, according to the news release, indicated that he would carry out the murder of Humble himself as he was becoming impatient.

Hayman's defense lawyer in June 2022 argued that Hayman's use of the website was not serious in a detention hearing.

"In the event he was unable to secure the services of a hitman, defendant indicated that he was fully prepared to carry out the killing himself," court documents asking Hayman to be held without bond read.

Hayman, 33, is now being held as a sentencing hearing is scheduled.

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$200 hitman should use 'gun, baseball bat, knives, and rocks'

An undercover ATF agent spoke with Hayman May 5, 2022 during which law enforcement said Hayman reiterated his desire to have the woman murdered.

That call included discussion of the preferred murder weapon: "gun, baseball bat, knives and rocks," were all options, according to the court document.

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Hayman again provided the woman's address and photo to the man he thought was a killer, via text message. In a later phone call between Hayman and the undercover agent, he also implied that a caregiver who lived with him would need to be "hurt," according to the news release.

The scheme escalated to the point where the undercover agent on May 11, 2022, went to Hayman's home to pick him up "to carry out the hit on the victim," a service for which he offered to pay $200.

Hayman's mental health concerns raised in case

According to court documents, Hayman allegedly suffers from a 'mild developmental disability" and has the mental functioning of a 16- to 18-year-old.

Hayman was under a legal guardianship at the time he was being investigated for the murder-for-hire-scheme, and resided with a court-ordered guardian - the same guardian he indicated to the undercover agent should also be killed.

Hayman, according to the documents, at some point was also diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, also known as ADHD.

The documents also seem to indicate other criminal impulses, pointing to a 2016 incident in which Hayman traveled to Mexico with the intent of taking an 8-year-old girl from her mother, a woman he had met online. In 2017, Hayman's sister allegedly reported Hayman after indications he planned to take her 12-year-old daughter by force to Mexico after killing her and his mother.

Once a missing/endangered person: Leif Hayman was reported missing November 2022

During that period, Hayman was reported as a missing/endangered person when he disabled a window alarm and left the home where he was monitored full-time by a guardian. Hayman was found the same day after being taken to a Las Cruces hospital for an ankle injury he sustained during his "escape."

Prosecutors argued that these incidents indicated he should be detained.

"It is apparent from the facts of the charged incident that Defendant poses a risk of danger to his intended victim," read court documents. "However, Defendant also poses serious risk of danger to the community at large."

It is unclear from the court documents or form the news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office is part of Hayman's sentencing will include mental health care or services.

Jessica Onsurez can be reached at jonsurez@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @jussGREAT.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Online murder for hire scheme could mean 10 years in prison for Las Cruces man