Woman Tries To Hire Hitman Via Parody Website, Gets Arrested: Authorities

New Orleans -- A 33-year-old Louisiana woman has been arrested after authorities said she attempted to hire a contract killer via a parody website that is linked to the FBI.

Zandra Ellis, of New Orleans, was taken into custody by the feds this week in the parking lot of a Waffle House in Louisiana after discussing the hit with an undercover agent, Daily Mail reported, citing a criminal complaint.

On June 30, Ellis contacted Rent-A-Hitman.com using the fake name Jasmine D. Brown, according to the documents.

In her inquiry, Ellis said she wanted a woman identified only as B.H. dead because B.H. was allegedly "trying to kill" her.

After receiving the inquiry, the operator of the website, Robert Innes, said he contacted Ellis a day later and asked if she wanted to go through with the hit. Ellis quickly responded to say that she did.

Innes, a graduate of the Napa Valley police academy, started Rent-A-Hitman.com in 2005 as an internet security company. The website is linked to the FBI's Internet Criminal Complaint Center, according to documents in Ellis' case.

Innes did a background check on Ellis and discovered her real name. He then asked the woman why she used a fake name.

“I didn’t want my real name out just in case this isn’t real or if it comes back to me or so I wouldn’t go to jail for wanting something like this done. I just didn’t want it to fall back on me,” Ellis replied.

Innes reported Ellis to the FBI National Threat Operations Center on July 3. Two days later, an undercover agent going by the moniker Ace contacted Ellis.

Ellis and Ace negotiated the price for the hit via text messages, the documents said. They eventually settle on a $1,000 fee, with Ellis paying $100 upfront. She said she would pay the balance in installments of $250 until the debt was paid off.

Ellis brought her child in a stroller when she and Ace later met up at a Waffle House. It was here where Ellis said that she wanted B.H. dead because she believed that B.H. was trying to kill her and her unborn child.

Ellis also said that she and B.H. had kids with the same man. The identity of the man was not mentioned in the complaint.

When Ellis exited Waffle House, she was arrested. Authorities discovered that the woman was carrying a Ruger .308 pistol containing live rounds at the time of the arrest.

Ellis was charged with the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire. If found guilty, she faces up to 10 years in prison.

Rent-A-Hitman.com has caught numerous others looking to have someone killed. In the first six months of 2022, the site received 331 actionable service requests, according to Innes.

“When a life is in jeopardy, I want [the case] to get into capable hands,” Innes told The Daily Beast. “Fortunately, a life was saved in this process.”