Chinese spa worker pleads not guilty to ‘murder for hire’ plot in New York
- Prosecutors allege the 42-year-old woman offered cryptocurrency, cash and sex for killing of her lover’s wife and daughter but website was a scam
![US prosecutors allege a woman from China who was living in New York tried to arrange a hitman on the dark web. Shutterstock](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1020x680/public/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/09/be17e5b9-f0c9-472f-b794-17f7b3583cdd_1d714884.jpg?itok=9_Xw6O27&v=1720490980)
A Chinese national appeared in a New York court on Monday charged with offering cryptocurrency, cash and sexual favours in an alleged plot to kill her lover’s wife and daughter – only to discover that the “murder for hire” website was a scam.
Spa worker Yue Zhou, 42, was arrested last month in Virginia and transferred to New York on Wednesday after allegedly attempting to arrange the murders on the dark web. She pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court and did not request bail.
If convicted, she could face 10 to 12 years in prison and deportation. Her lawyer could not be reached for comment.
According to a law enforcement official who asked not to be identified, Zhou is a Chinese national who was living in New York City’s Flushing neighbourhood illegally at the time of the alleged offences.
District attorney Breon Pearce told the eastern district court that Zhou’s “depraved plan was only thwarted because the website she used to set up the murder-for-hire was a scam”.
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