Woman tried hiring someone to kill her ex-husband on rentahitman.com, Michigan cops say

A Michigan woman wanted a hitman to kill her ex-husband so she went to www.rentahitman.com, Michigan State Police say.

Except rentahitman.com is a fake website created to lure people like Wendy Wein, who was arrested Friday after her failed attempt, according to state police.

Wein, of South Rockwood, went to the website and completed a “service request form,” requesting a consultation, police said in a news release.

When she said her ex-husband was the target of her problems, the owner of the website alerted state police, according to a release.

State police began an investigation and had a state trooper go undercover as a hitman, police said. The trooper met Wein in a South Rockwood parking lot.

“She offered to pay him $5,000 to murder her ex-husband, who lives in another state, and provided him with an up-front payment for travel expenses,” state police said.

She was arrested and charged Tuesday with solicitation to commit murder and illegal use of a computer to facilitate a crime, according to state police.

Since the rentahitman.com website was created in 2005, the owner “has been contacted numerous times by people requesting murders, school shootings and even a baby abduction,” police said. It’s helped prevent 130 murders because the owner always alerts authorities when someone requests a hitman, according to police.

The fake website offers fictitious customer testimonials and says its field operatives have undergone COVID-19 training.

Wein has been placed in the Monroe County jail on a $500,000 bond, according to Monroe News. A solicitation to commit murder conviction could yield a maximum life sentence, according to the Toledo Blade.

This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Woman tried hiring someone to kill her ex-husband on rentahitman.com, Michigan cops say."