A New York former spa worker has been charged over her involvement in an alleged bitcoin-for-murder scheme that saw her threaten to chop one intended victim “into a hundred pieces” and offer a neighbor sex if they “throw her body into a lake.”
In a letter in support of pretrial detention, the prosecution details how, in 2019, Yue Zhou allegedly sought to hire a professional killer to murder her lover’s spouse. It’s claimed she paid $5,000 in bitcoin to arrange the murder through a dark web website.
During the planning phase of her plot, she reportedly shared details about her lover’s schedule and that of their spouse to try to ensure that the murder occurred at a convenient time.
She also allegedly paid to have her lover’s daughter killed and sent her threatening messages stating, “Warning: I will cut your body into hundred pieces… I know where you live. I watch you all time (sic).”
According to authorities, at some point Zhou began to suspect that the website was illegitimate and sent several disturbing threats to the website administrator, threatening physical and sexual violence against him and his family.
Besides this less-than-legitimate hitman-for-hire website, the defendant supposedly texted a neighbor of the daughter and offered $10,000 and sexual favors in exchange for killing her. She encouraged this neighbor to “throw her body into the lake,” adding “I really don’t want to see her again.”
The letter for pretrial detention also alleges that Zhou “has worked for short periods of time at multiple spas around the country that are connected to illicit sex work.”
Zhou entered a plea of not guilty on July 8. The judge agreed to pre-trial detention.
