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A Chinese national appeared in a New York court on Monday, charged with offering cryptocurrency, cash, and sexual favors in a plot to kill her lover’s wife and daughter, only to discover that the “murder-for-hire” website she used was a scam.
Yue Zhou, 42, a spa worker, was arrested last month in Virginia and transferred to New York. She pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court and did not request bail. If convicted, Zhou could face 10 to 12 years in prison and deportation.
According to an anonymous law enforcement official, Zhou, a Chinese national, was living illegally in New York City’s Flushing neighborhood at the time of the alleged offenses.
District attorney Breon Pearce stated that Zhou’s “depraved plan was only thwarted because the website she used to set up the murder-for-hire was a scam.” Pearce added, “Although the scheme involved newer technologies like the internet and bitcoin, the end result would have been age-old cold-blooded murder.”
Prosecutors allege that between late March and early April 2019, Zhou, using the online name “Bigtree,” sought a hitman on the dark web to kill her lover’s wife. Zhou, who was emotionally invested in the relationship, wanted to marry and have children with her lover. She allegedly transferred $5,000 in cash to a bitcoin exchange service in Ukraine and placed the order to have the wife murdered.
Zhou provided detailed descriptions of the potential victim, including her home address, work schedule, and ideal times to target her so that the husband would have an alibi. Unbeknownst to her, the website was a fake, and there was no hitman.
Later, Zhou attempted to arrange a hit on her lover’s adult daughter from a previous marriage. Prosecutors obtained messages between Zhou and the website administrator showing her intentions. Zhou also directly threatened the daughter in December 2019, sending messages like, “I will cut your body into hundred pieces” and “I know where you live. I watch you all time.”
Prosecutors are unclear whether the website was set up by authorities or was a commercial operation, and they do not know if Zhou’s lover was aware of the plot or is being indicted separately.
After making the $5,000 payment, Zhou became suspicious that the website was a scam. She sent several disturbing messages to the administrator, threatening physical and sexual violence against him and his family.
Prosecutors argued against bail, stating that Zhou had stalked her potential victims and posed a threat to witnesses and others involved in the investigation. They revealed that in February 2021, Zhou offered $10,000 and sexual favors to her lover’s daughter’s neighbor to kill the daughter and dispose of her body, saying, “Throw her body into the lake. I really don’t want to see her again.”
Based on mobile phone data, the messages were sent from Zhou’s phone. Court documents indicate that Zhou has worked at multiple spas around the country involved in illicit sex work.
Special agent-in-charge Ivan Arvelo with the US Department of Homeland Security commented, “Little did she know, the website she allegedly thought she was using to solicit a hitman was a farce. And the crimes of which she is accused soon caught up to her.”
Source: SCMP
