Utah Man Sentenced for Murder-for-Hire Plot Against Children's Birth Parents

Christopher Pence receives a seven-year prison term after attempting to hire a hitman using Bitcoin.

Christopher Pence, a 43-year-old from Cedar City, Utah, was sentenced to seven years in prison for attempting to hire a hitman to kill the New York birth parents of his adopted children.
Pence paid $16,000 in Bitcoin for the murder-for-hire scheme, which targeted residents of Hoosick Falls, New York, but the plan was never executed.
The intended victims were the biological parents of five of Pence's adopted children, with whom he was embroiled in a custody dispute.
Investigators traced the Bitcoin transaction and Pence's dark web communications back to his residence, leading to his arrest in 2021.
Pence pleaded guilty to using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire plot and will also serve a three-year term of supervised release after his imprisonment.