A man who unwittingly created an assassin hiring website has revealed how the spoof hitman service helps catch prospective murderers.
Bob Innes, 52, from California, created RentAHitman.com in 2005 as part of a university class project and forgot about the satirical website until three years later, when he checked the site’s analytics while bored.
Bob discovered that the site attracted over 6,000 people per month. His inbox was filled with legitimate requests for murder, which inspired him to start looking for the culprits.
Bob decided to change the format of the parody website to include application forms for ‘field agents’ to carry out murder plots so that he could collect more personal details of budding killers to pass on to the police.
The site has led to criminals being caught and imprisoned. One Michigan woman was sentenced last week to as much as 20 years for hiring a contract killer in order to murder her husband.
Parody website RentAHitman.com pretends to allow users to hire ‘field agents’ to kill for money
Bob Innes, 52, created RentAHitman.com in 2005 as part of a university class project and has since been inundated with genuine requests for murder
Bob, a California resident, explained that he had it on several online auctions, but nobody wanted it.
“I looked through my inbox again and saw 250 to 300 emails from all over the globe asking for asset extraction or for hitmen. Do you service these countries?” It was shocking.
The website features glowing testimonials from pretend customers and promises to ‘make any troubled relationship disappear’ by filling out a consultation form with all their personal details.
The website can be maintained by users so that they may apply to become a field agent with the fake hitman service.
It asks for users to submit application forms in order to be ‘field agents.’ This will allow them to execute murder plots and give the details to the police.
The website features glowing testimonials from pretend customers and promises to ‘make any troubled relationship disappear’ by filling out a consultation form with all their and their target’s personal details (pictured L-R)
The website claims to ‘100% HIPPA compliant’, meaning they adhere to the pretend Hitman Information Privacy & Protection Act of 1964 – ensuring users total confidentiality
The website claims to ‘100% HIPPA compliant’, meaning they adhere to the pretend Hitman Information Privacy & Protection Act of 1964 – ensuring users total confidentiality.
“Primarily, they were only one-line email asking about these countries and do they serve minors? How much it costs to send someone out of this country. Bob said that the information was not sufficient to send off an initial message.
RentAHitman.com has captured a number of would-be killers
It is believed that the site has caught over a dozen would be killers, who contacted Bob as a contract killer.
Wendy Lynn Wein 52, South Rockford pleaded guilty in November to hiring someone to murder her ex-husband using RentAHitman.com. She also pleaded guilty for using a computer and committing a crime in July 2020.
Wendy Lynn Wein 52 of South Rockford Michigan was sentenced Thursday for using fake hitman websites to have her ex-husband killed.
On Thursday, she was sentenced for seven to twenty years in prison. She will also be eligible to credit the 545 day she spent in prison.
Fauber from Verona in Virginia pleaded guilty for three counts of solicitation of first-degree murder.
Bob may also have been credited with helping to secure Danae’s conviction for Danae Wright’s 39th-degree murder. She requested that three individuals be put to death by a combination of bombs, guns, and anything else.
Wright from Oakley, Kansas was sentenced to 34-month probation in February for criminal solicitation to murder in second degree.
It was a British woman called Helen who came up with the idea of using the website to find criminals. She lived in Canada.
The website was contacted by the woman insisting that she hire a murderer to kill three of her relatives living in the UK.
Bob contacted the police to learn that Helen was being sought on “more serious” charges. The Guardian reports.
“I received an email in the morning. Helen was not well. Helen’s message was very long. He said that he could see the lady wasn’t healthy.
“She stated she had three relatives murdered as she was angry at their inheritance. I did not read the email much, but hours later she sent me another email. The subject of this one contained urgent.
“I was astonished to see that she had taken the time to write this email. It was that email which really started this site.
Last week, Wendy Lynn Wein, 52, of South Rockford, Michigan, was sentenced to seven to 20 years in prison after using the website to try and hire a hitman to kill her ex-husband.
Wein used a false name in order to submit a service request to the site. In July 2020, Wein wrote Guido Fanelli that her ex-husband had stolen $20,000 from her.
Fanelli, the pseudonym Bob uses on this site is Fanelli. Rolling Stone said that Wein was one of the 12 people who tried to use this website to find a contract killer.
“I usually wait for 24 hours before taking action.” [an email], Bob explained. “After this period, I’ll ask Bob “Do you require our services? Do you wish me to contact a Field operative?”
If the email doesn’t go through or is rejected, then I do not respond to it. If they reply, then I’d like to be contacted by a field agent.
Bob said that while the site has become a “full-time job”, with mountains and emails every day, he insists that it hasn’t stopped naive visitors from using the site.
“I receive more email than ever before, and that’s a lot because of the media attention it has received. I am currently sorting through material to determine if they are hoaxes, or if there is any meat on the bones. They are those that are taken seriously.