Tampa woman accused of trying to hire hitman to kill spouse of former flame

A 50-year-old accountant from Tampa has been arrested after authorities say she tried to arrange a hit on the spouse of her former lover on the dark web, according to federal authorities.

DeAnna Marie Stinson created an account June 24 on a website on the dark web that claimed to offer murder-for-hire services, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa said in a news release Friday.

The next day, she tried to submit an “order” to get a hitman assigned for her job, which she described as a “quick hit in southern Florida,” authorities said, adding that Stinson included the name and address of the person who is married to her former significant other, as well as a photo of the intended target.

Over the next several weeks, Stinson tried to arrange the hit four more times, sending more than $12,000 in Bitcoin as payment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. They say she also sent multiple messages to website administrators and supposed contract killers, urging them to kill the target, and offering a bonus if it could be done by a certain date.

On July 31, Stinson asked administrators to “reassign the job to someone who has a history of getting jobs done” because she “need[ed] th[e] job done ASAP,” authorities said.

Members of law enforcement became aware of the alleged plot, and an undercover agent posing as a hitman contacted Stinson and recorded a phone call in which she again stated her desire to have the target killed, then agreed to send a Bitcoin payment, according to the release.

On Sept. 13, she sent a bitcoin payment of $350 to cover the cost of a revolver to be used in the contract killing, federal officials say.

Stinson was subsequently arrested, and she faces charges including murder-for-hire and soliciting a crime of violence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

She faces up to 10 years in prison.