A 21-year-old Air National Guardsman is facing federal charges after he applied to be a hitman on a spoof "rent-a-hitman" website that has led to dozens of other arrests.
Josiah Ernesto Garcia, of Hermitage, Tennessee, was charged with the use of interstate facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire after meeting with an undercover FBI agent to reach a deal to murder an individual for payment, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Tennessee announced.
According to the criminal complaint, Garcia needed money to support his family and in mid-February began searching online for contract mercenary jobs and came across the website RentAHitman.com.
"Originally created in 2005 to advertise a cyber security startup company, the company failed and over the next decade it received many inquiries about murder-for-hire services. The website's administrator then converted the website to a parody site that contains false testimonials from those who have purported to use hit man services, and an intake form where people can request services. The website also has an option for someone to apply to work as a hired killer," the Attorney's Office said in a statement.
Garcia allegedly submitted an employment inquiry on February 16 indicating that he was interested in becoming an assassin. Garcia followed up on his request and submitted other identification documents and a resume, indicating he was an expert marksman and employed in the Air National Guard since July 2021, according to the complaint. His resume also indicated that he was nicknamed "Reaper," which was earned from military experience and marksmanship.
"I'm looking for a job, that pays well, related to my military experience (Shooting and Killing the marked target) so I can support my kid on the way. What can I say, I enjoy doing what I do, so if I can find a job that is similar to it, (such as this one) put me in coach!" Garcia wrote in a follow-up email on Feb. 20, according to the complaint.
Authorities say Garcia continued to follow up with the website administrator indicating that he wanted to go to work as soon as possible. During a phone interview on April 5, Garcia was asked if he was "comfortable with taking fingers or ears as trophies or performing torture at a client's request," according to the complaint.
"His response was 'if it's possible and in my means to do so, I'm more than capable,'" the complaint says. "Later in the conversation, Garcia again confirmed that he was comfortable with torture of victims and taking trophies at a client's request. Garcia stated, 'I definitely want to meet. I'm ready for this.'"
When asked why he was interested in this line of work, Garcia responded: "Being in the military, doing that sort of work already. I was looking into civilian law enforcement but that's not for me. I wanted something more exciting. I started searching the web and then I found this, so here I am," the complaint says. He also asked, "How soon can I start?" and "What do the payments look like?" according to the complaint.
An FBI undercover agent set up a meeting with Garcia on April 12, during which he agreed to kill an individual for $5,000, the Attorney's Office said.
"Garcia met the undercover agent at a park in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and was provided with a target packet of a fictional individual, which included photographs and other information about the individual to be killed, and a down payment of $2,500," officials said.
After Garcia agreed to terms of the arrangement, he allegedly asked the agent if he needed to provide a photograph of the dead body. At that point, he was arrested by FBI agents.
During a search of his home, agents recovered an AR-style rifle, officials said. In an interview after his arrest, Garcia told FBI agents "he was looking for work because he needed money and his family could not afford rent," the complaint says. After a former co-worker suggested he look for "contract mercenary jobs," he came across the rent-a-hitman website and applied. Garcia also told agents he recently accepted a job at Vanderbilt Medical in Nashville and "changed his mind" about the hitman job, adding that he was going to leave the $2,500 pre-payment on the curb for the contact to pick up, according to the complaint.
If convicted as charged, Garcia faces up to 10 years in prison.
Although the website is a parody, its founder says it lures people who actually want to kill. Bob Innes told People Magazine in November 2022 he had no idea his "joke" website would actually end up catching real-life criminals.
"I mean, nobody could be stupid enough to hire a hitman on the internet, right?" Innes told People, revealing that the site received hundreds of emails with people asking, "How much for a hit? Do you perform asset extraction? Are you hiring?"
Innes said he passes the information he receives along to law enforcement, adding that the site has led to at least 30 arrests and several convictions.
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