LOS ANGELES \u2013 A Beverly Hills man was arrested Friday on a murder-for-hire charge that alleges he tried to hire a hitman to kill a woman he briefly dated and who had repeated tried to break off the relationship.<\/p>\n
Scott Quinn Berkett, 24, was arrested Friday afternoon without incident after being charged in a federal criminal complaint that alleges he sent thousands of dollars in bitcoin to arrange the murder and then wired another $1,000 to the \u201chitman,\u201d who was actually an undercover FBI agent.<\/p>\n
According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, Berkett met \u201cVictim 1\u201d online last year, and the woman flew to Los Angeles to meet Berkett in late October. Victim 1, who described Berkett\u2019s behavior as \u201csexually aggressive,\u201d tried on several occasions to break off the relationship following the October trip, the affidavit states.<\/p>\n
In April, a family member who had learned that Berkett continued to contact Victim 1 called and sent text messages to Berkett\u2019s father\u2019s phone, and, on April 20, Berkett appears to have responded saying \u201cconsider this matter closed.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, Berkett allegedly contacted a group on the dark web that advertised murder-for-hire services. While law enforcement believes that this dark web group was a scam, the group contacted a media outlet, which provided information to the FBI, including messages from Berkett, who was using a screenname of \u201cUla77,\u201d and documentation of payments by Berkett, according to the affidavit.<\/p>\n
The media outlet provided \u201ctransaction information from an unnamed source on the Dark Web that showed that Bitcoin payments were made with an understanding that an unknown individual would murder Victim 1,\u201d the affidavit states. \u201cThe information provided was specific about the identity and location of Victim 1, as well as social media accounts, nicknames, email, and a distinctive tattoo of Victim 1.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berkett allegedly submitted his order for the hit on April 28, writing to the dark web group: \u201cI\u2019d like it to look like an accident, but robbery gone wrong may work better. So long as she is dead. I\u2019d also like for her phone to be retrieved and destroyed irreparably in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like proof of her death sent to me,\u201d Berkett allegedly said in a later message. \u201cShe has a distinctive tattoo on one of her forearms that I know the image of, so a photo of her corpse and a photo of her tattoo for identification would work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The information provided to the FBI indicated that Berkett made Bitcoin payments totally $13,000 between April 5 and May 5.<\/p>\n
An undercover FBI agent, posing as a hitman, made contact with Berkett on Wednesday and eventually sent a photo of Victim 1, which Berkett confirmed was the victim, according to the affidavit. During the discussions with the purported hitman, Berkett demanded a proof-of-death photo that would show the corpse and Victim 1\u2019s distinctive tattoo.<\/p>\n
Berkett made the final $1,000 payment via Western Union late Thursday afternoon, the affidavit states.<\/p>\n