A former Galloway Township resident admitted in federal court that he paid $20,000 in bitcoin to have a 14-year-old child killed so the boy couldn't testify against him in a child pornography case.
John Michael Musbach, now 31 and living in Haddonfield, first began exchanging sexually explicit photographs with the then-13-year-old New York boy, in the summer of 2015.
The victim's parents notified police when they found out about the inappropriate contact.
Musbach had already had pleaded guilty in the child pornography case when a cooperating informant provided law enforcement with messages between Musbach and a murder-for-hire website on the dark web.
“Agentisai” — later identified as Musbach — reached out to the unnamed site May 7, 2016, saying he was in South Jersey, and looking to obtain a handgun and ammunition.
“Alternatively to a gun order, I could place a hit order,” “agentisai” writes the next day.
“However, the target would be 14. Is that an acceptable age or too young?” he writes. “I can budget up to $20k for the order.”
The site responds: “Yes, 14 years old is acceptable. We have gang members to do the hit; however the price is about $18,500.”
Musbach then allegedly paid a total of 40 bitcoin — about $20,000 — for the hit.
Musbach repeatedly messaged the website’s administrator following up on the hit and asking when it would happen, Carpenito said.
On May 19, the administrator messaged Musbach saying that there was a problem: “The assigned hitman got arrested for cocaine possession while he was near the place.”
He was then told the new hitman wanted an additional $5,000.
That’s when he tried to cancel the hit and get a refund, according to the charges.
Instead, the website’s administrator told Musbach the site was a scam and threatened to tell law enforcement.
Agents were able to confirm Musbach’s identity through several means, including linking him to the same screen name he used to communicate with the murder-for-hire website and also by tracing the flow of money from Musbach’s bank account to the purchase of bitcoin used to pay for the hit.
He was previously sentenced to two-years probation and lifetime supervision on the original charges.
Musbach now faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for the charge of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire. Sentencing is scheduled for June 13.
