A Utah man was sentenced to seven years in prison for trying to hire a hitman to kill the New York birth parents of the children he adopted.
Christopher Pence, 43, of Cedar City, found a murder-for-hire service on the dark web and arranged for the murders of two residents of Hoosick Falls, in upstate New York’s Rensselaer County, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York said in a news release.
According to officials, Pence sent $16,000 in Bitcoin to the would-be hitman and provided “the names, address and photographs of the intended victims, as well as the manner in which the killing should take place.” He “advised that the killing should be made to look like an accident or a botched robbery.”
After investigators traced the transaction to Pence, he was arrested in 2021.
In interviews after he was taken into custody, Pence revealed his likely motive: He and his wife had adopted five of the victims’ 16 children, but the birth parents were attempting to regain custody.
The birth parents had also reported Pence to child welfare services, which angered him. Pence purportedly canceled the hit but never warned the victims they may be in danger.
The identities of the intended victims — who were never harmed — have not been released.
Pence originally pleaded guilty in 2023 to use of a facility of interstate commerce in connection with a murder-for-hire plot. He had remained in federal custody since his arrest.
Along with his seven-year prison term, he was also sentenced to a three-year term of supervised release to begin after he leaves prison.
