US authorities say a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman applied for hitman work on the satirical RentAHitman.com website and later agreed to kill a fictional person in exchange for $5,000. Tennessee man Josiah Ernesto Garcia was arrested and charged with use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, US Attorney Henry Leventis announced Friday.
“Garcia submitted an employment inquiry indicating that he was interested in obtaining employment as a hit man,” the announcement said. “Garcia followed up on this initial request and submitted other identification documents and a resume, indicating he was an expert marksman and employed in the Air National Guard since July 2021.”
Garcia’s resume allegedly said his nickname, “Reaper,” was “Earned from Military experience and Marksmanship.” The resume said he was recognized as an expert marksman “for not missing a single bullseye on all of the targets and for shooting expert with 2 (or more) weapons,” according to the FBI.
The criminal complaint filed Thursday is based on an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Stephen Hunter, who described Garcia making a series of inquiries to the Rent-a-Hitman site, speaking to an undercover agent via phone and in person, and continuing to seek hitman work despite being warned of the risks multiple times.
FBI: Would-be hitman was willing to torture
Garcia allegedly told an undercover agent that he would be comfortable torturing victims and taking trophies such as fingers or ears, that he owned an AR-15 rifle, and that he accepted an envelope with $2,500 in cash as a down payment for killing the fictional client’s abusive husband. “After agreeing to the terms of the murder arrangement, Garcia asked the agent if he needed to provide a photograph of the dead body,” the US Attorney’s office said.
The FBI affidavit says that after Garcia was arrested and waived his Miranda rights, he told agents that he changed his mind and was planning to return the $2,500 down payment. He allegedly told agents that “he was looking for work because he needed money and his family could not afford rent” and that a co-worker at the Air National Guard suggested that he look for “contract mercenary jobs.”
“Garcia searched that term online and came across the rentahitman.com website,” the affidavit said. Garcia was living at his parents’ house and said he was working one weekend per month in the Air National Guard. Authorities say they seized an AR-style rifle from his bedroom.
The criminal charge could put Garcia in prison for up to 10 years if he’s convicted. The case is in US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
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