There are so few murder-for-hire stories that have truly led to the death of various individuals. It’s almost an urban myth that you can easily hire an assassin easily. Most Darknet marketplaces prohibit such services, and almost all that do are simply fraudulent. Yet we consistently see more and more cases arise as individuals attempt to hire a hitman. The latest is Kristy Lynn Felkins, who paid $5,000 upfront to a now-defunct fraudulent murder-for-hire darknet site.
The Target Is My Ex-Husband
Kirsty ” aka KBGMKN” Lynn Felkins received a five-year prison sentence on July 21, 2023, for sending 12 Bitcoin (valued at just $5,000 back in 2016) to the not-so-well-known hitman-based darknet marketplace called “Besa Mafia.” The entire process was as typical as can be, where a scam website fooled Kirsty into making the payment. He even continued to try and take more funds and delayed the hit with countless excuses.
The entire scheme was laid out after a non-government informant gave details to the Basa Mafia website as a whole. A cyber crimes unit managed to scrape all messages and build cases on multiple users. Felkins is the first of many to come.
Felkins took time to speak to the admin behind Mafia and explain her entire situation and provided many details as to the purpose of this murder for hire. She showed signs of guilt in trying to justify her request. After making payment, Felkins provided an address, name, and details on how she’d have liked the hit to take place.
The Darknet Hitman Plan
What makes this quite interesting is that Felkins had taken some time to research before making a $5,000 payment but still took the bait. She had heard that all hitmen sites were scams and even brought this up with the admin. The admin even made the suggestion she speaks to a local gang if she didn’t trust the website. Lo and behold, Felkins made the payment.
“I have found many posts, some on reddit for example, that state all hit man for hire sites are scams. Some poke fun at this specific site…. Also, the [WEBSITE-1] articles really just make you look desperate ….weather it your posts or not. Any true group fighting such a thing would not include the website address. If we use a third party escrow how do I know you won’t claim to have completed services when you really haven’t. I can deny releasing funds but you can still claim they are owed…meaning a third party must then be involved….. How do I know you are not FBI, they do have the capability to infect ones device and trace them back to their real IP. Just being cautious”
KBGMKN
In response the Basa Mafia admin easily manipulated Felkins to trusting him.
“[There are] post on Reddit saying all hitmen sites are scams, is from undercover cops the [WEBSITE-1] articles are not posted by us. we do not have time to post articles. Anyway, if you don’t like doing it online, you can always go in the gangs on your streets and hire a hitmen there.
we don’t force anyone using our services, we could not, and we do not want to. You can even buy a cheap laptop just for this job, or declare that your laptop has been stolen, paste some duct tape on your laptop camera if you are afraid of someone hacking into your laptop, use some public wifi, and if ever caught you can say someone stole your laptop and used it to order the murder of someone you know, to frame you and to do you harm.“
Basa Mafia Admin
This single message convinced Felkins to continue on her mission through the fraud website. Over the next few days, the pair continued to talk, if you’d like to see a full manuscript, it’s on this press release.
Felkings then gave a few details and requested the hit take place as soon as possible. The pair spoke about possible dates, attempting to ensure Felkins is out of town during the hit and that it all looked like a mugging.
After a few “failed attempts”, Felkins became impatient and requested it be done in a fashion that could have required a sniper. The Basa Mafia admin explained this would cost an additional $4,000, but Felkins didn’t have the funds to proceed. Instead, she pleaded with the admin.
“I do stand to get money from this, but that isn’t the reason behind my motivation…
This man mentally, physically, sexually and emotionally abused me. I ran, and then he took my children away from me. He now mentally abuses my children and threatens their physical well-being. He is quite the snake and master manipulator….. I know I can get the 4000 in 4-5 weeks. And right now, the children are visiting grandparents, so they aren’t at risk of witnessing or possibly being involved. They are safe and comfortable. My family and friends are not people to have a lot of money, and I have already borrowed from them all they can give trying to settle things with him legally with lawyers. The money I have already sent to you was the last I had to pay the lawyers for the next battle we are up against My bank accounts are bare from running, relocating, starting over and Lawyers. Not to mention I stand to get his retirement, our house and possibly a large life insurance payout.”
KBGMKN
The conversation did not continue much longer as Felkins’s suspicions grew. Felkins asked the hitman to send a picture of a street sign in North Carolina with his finger in it as well. In return, the admin sent a Google Maps picture of a sign. According to Felkins the picture “was obviously a Google Street view with a photo shopped finger added in.” Felkins put the pieces of the puzzle together and ended all communication on April 19, 2016
Tracing Back To Felkins
Tracing the murder-for-hire chat back to Kirsty Felkins wasn’t too difficult for the FBI to do. Felkins gave great details about the murder and the incentives behind it in her conversations with the fraudster.
That being said, additional evidence was necessary to ensure it was, in fact, Felkins behind the conversation. As you might expect, her OpSec wasn’t in check. She used LocalBitcoins as requested by the Basa Mafia admin and created an account under the user name “Kristy L Felkins.”
She even used her Yahoo email “[email protected]” and connected her mobile number to the website. The FBI also matched Felkins’s IP address to her Craigslist account, leaving Felkins helpless in front of a judge.
Despite receiving information on the murder-for-hire case in September 2019, Felkins was arrested in September 2020, one year later. Felkins admitted to her deeds, including using the website, paying the Bitcoin, and plotting to assassinate her ex-husband.
As a result, Felkins received her five-year prison sentence on July 21, 2023, and will be under parole for a further three years once released.
Hey there, I’m a dark web geek who’s been around for the last 8 years. More precisely, I’m livedarknet’s senior content writer who’s been writing about darknet marketplaces, tutorials, and cybersecurity stuff for educational purposes.