- Joined
- Apr 1, 2005
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- 10,310
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This somehow managed to fly under my radar until today. It's quite difficult to muster any sympathy for the murderous idiots caught out by such an obvious joke.
Innes held on to the website despite not really using it, and in 2010 he noticed a message from a woman named Helen who reportedly "wanted three family members in the UK murdered for screwing her out of her father's inheritance." He didn't respond, but she sent a second email that "included names, addresses and other corroborating information," The Guardian wrote. Innes turned Helen in, leading to her arrest.
Innes turned the website into an elaborate satire with a service request form for those seeking a hitman and a career inquiry page for those seeking work as a Rent-a-Hitman "field operative." The site is filled with statements that clearly indicate it's all a joke.
"Due to contractual restrictions, Rent-A-Hitman is no longer affiliated with the National Guard, Diners Club, Kanye West, the Illuminati, Rudolph Giuliani, Alec Baldwin, Kyle Rittenhouse or Carole Baskin," the career page says.
The website offers "special discount packages" to groups, senior citizens, and Air National Guardsmen. It claims to be 100 percent compliant with "HIPPA," the "Hitman Information Privacy & Protection Act of 1964." For those who scroll down far enough, website visitors are informed that any messages they send "are the property of RAH and are subject to print, multimedia, and all other uses, both public and private."
Despite these red flags, Innes continues to get inquiries disturbing enough that he passes them on to law enforcement. In 2021, he told ABC7 News that his website "has prevented, essentially, 150 murders at this point." In January 2022, a Michigan woman was sentenced to seven to 24 years in prison after admitting she tried to use the website to get her ex-husband murdered.
Rent-a-Hitman site nabbed Air National Guardsman who was “excited” to kill
FBI: Guardsman owned AR-15 and was willing to take fingers and ears as trophies.
The satirical Rent-a-Hitman site has a long history of catching people with murder on their minds, and it was essentially created by accident. A California man named Bob Innes bought the URL in 2005 for a potential tech company that he never ended up starting. "It was the dotcom era and he was a business school student in North Carolina trying to advertise website traffic analysis services: the 'hit' was a nod to clicks coming in on a client's website," according to a 2021 Guardian article.Innes held on to the website despite not really using it, and in 2010 he noticed a message from a woman named Helen who reportedly "wanted three family members in the UK murdered for screwing her out of her father's inheritance." He didn't respond, but she sent a second email that "included names, addresses and other corroborating information," The Guardian wrote. Innes turned Helen in, leading to her arrest.
Innes turned the website into an elaborate satire with a service request form for those seeking a hitman and a career inquiry page for those seeking work as a Rent-a-Hitman "field operative." The site is filled with statements that clearly indicate it's all a joke.
"Due to contractual restrictions, Rent-A-Hitman is no longer affiliated with the National Guard, Diners Club, Kanye West, the Illuminati, Rudolph Giuliani, Alec Baldwin, Kyle Rittenhouse or Carole Baskin," the career page says.
The website offers "special discount packages" to groups, senior citizens, and Air National Guardsmen. It claims to be 100 percent compliant with "HIPPA," the "Hitman Information Privacy & Protection Act of 1964." For those who scroll down far enough, website visitors are informed that any messages they send "are the property of RAH and are subject to print, multimedia, and all other uses, both public and private."
Despite these red flags, Innes continues to get inquiries disturbing enough that he passes them on to law enforcement. In 2021, he told ABC7 News that his website "has prevented, essentially, 150 murders at this point." In January 2022, a Michigan woman was sentenced to seven to 24 years in prison after admitting she tried to use the website to get her ex-husband murdered.