CEDAR CITY, Utah (ABC4) — Prosecutors say a man from Cedar City, Utah pleaded guilty to using the dark web to hire a hitman in an attempt to murder two New York residents in 2021.

Christopher Pence, 43, admitted that he used a website on the darknet dedicated to arranging contract killings between July 16 and Aug. 9, 2021. Through the website, Pence arranged for the murder of two people who lived in Hoosick Falls, New York.

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Prosecutors said Pence paid the website administrator about $16,000 worth of Bitcoin to fund the hit before providing the names, addresses and photographs of the intended victims.

“[Pence] advised that the killing should be made to look like an accident or botched robbery,” Court documents said. Pence also requested that any children who lived with the victims weren’t harmed in the hit.

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According to court documents, Pence was in an “escalating dispute” with the victims in New York regarding the custody of several children. Pence and the victims did not agree on how the children should be raised or the personal choices and lifestyle of the victims.

The intended victims were not harmed, thanks to an anonymous tip to the FBI. Agents arrested Pence in Utah in October 2021. He has remained in federal custody since.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of New York said Pence faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000, as well as a term of up to three years of supervised release.

Pence is scheduled to be sentenced on April 2, 2024.

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