Hayman, 33, of Las Cruces, submitted three service requests on ‘rentahitman.com’, seeking someone to kill his girlfriend’s mother beginning in April 2022, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico said in a Feb 6 news release. — Photo by Ales Nesetril on Unsplash
A man accused of secretly trying to hire a hitman to kill the mother of his girlfriend, who was unaware he had been impatiently plotting her death, has pleaded guilty, federal prosecutors said.
“I hate her mom with a passion ... She deserves to die,” the New Mexico resident told an undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who was posing as a hitman, according to court documents.
Leif Everett Hayman, 33, of Las Cruces, submitted three service requests on “rentahitman.com”, seeking someone to kill his girlfriend’s mother beginning in April 2022, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico said in a Feb 6 news release.
“I want her gone now, too much that I don’t like about her,” Hayman wrote in his first online service request, describing the woman as “controlling”, according to prosecutors.
The website he visited is a parody site that has received multiple hitman inquiries, including from an Air National Guardsman arrested in April 2023 on murder-for-hire charges, prosecutors said, McClatchy News previously reported.
In Hayman’s online requests, he shared photos of his girlfriend’s mother and her address, writing “this is the target person if you don’t do it I will do it myself ... I want her gone now,” according to prosecutors.
Despite the website’s clear warning that a user’s information could be “leaked” to law enforcement, Hayman grew impatient and sent several emails to the website after he didn’t hear back, prosecutors said.
Hayman seemed to realise the website wasn’t legitimate, writing “you people are fake” in one email – but then was duped by an undercover agent who reached out to him days later, according to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint.
“R U still interested in my services,” the agent posing as a hitman wrote to Hayman, who responded “yes”, on May 5, 2022, the affidavit shows.
McClatchy News contacted a federal public defender representing Hayman for comment Feb 6 and didn’t receive a response.
The murder-for-hire plot
Hayman was under the impression that “Rentahitman.com” offered free services, but then offered the undercover agent US$200 (RM958) to kill the mother of his girlfriend, who he kept referring to as his wife, according to the affidavit.
It wasn’t specified if the couple was actually married in the affidavit, which says investigators found a website on The Knot showing Hayman and the girlfriend were engaged.
He told the agent he would ask his girlfriend to mail him the money, that he would lie about what the money was for and that he would distract her “long enough for the job to be done”, the affidavit said.
Hayman spoke to the agent about killing the mother with a gun, baseball bat, knives and rocks, according to prosecutors.
Ultimately, Hayman said he couldn’t give the undercover agent a gun or a bat, but he could provide knives and a rock to “smash her head in with multiple times,” according to the affidavit.
On May 9, Hayman spoke with the agent over the phone about leaving his home so he could attend the “hit on the victim”, prosecutors said.
Hayman said he lived with a caretaker, who the agent would have to hurt so he could leave, according to prosecutors.
Two days later, the undercover agent arrived at Hayman’s home, where Hayman walked out with his caretaker who followed behind him, prosecutors said.
Hayman expressed that “he wanted something done to the caretaker and stated to the agent ‘this is part of the deal’”, according to prosecutors.
As Hayman and his caretaker started to shove each other, the undercover agent drove away, prosecutors said.
Court rules he’s fit to stand trial
Hayman lived with full-time caregivers because of his “intellectual disabilities” and had a state-appointed guardian, according to court documents.
Following Hayman’s arrest in the case, he underwent a psychological exam in August 2022 and a psychologist determined he was “incompetent to stand trial”, court documents state.
However, a Bureau of Prisons psychologist made a different conclusion, determining he was “competent to stand trial” after he underwent a lengthy period of treatment involving further evaluation in custody, according to US District Judge Margaret Strickland.
On Oct 25, 2023, a competency hearing was held due to the conflicting psychologists’ reports, a Nov 7 order issued by Strickland shows.
As a result of the hearing, the court ruled Hayman was fit to stand trial, according to the judge’s order. His plea hearing was held Jan 31, court records show.
Hayman pleaded guilty to one count of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-to-hire, according to the attorney’s office.
Now he’s facing up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Hayman will stay in federal custody until he’s sentenced, according to the attorney’s office. His sentencing hearing has not been set.
Las Cruces is about 285 miles southwest of Santa Fe. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service
