An Air National Guardsman from Tennessee was arrested after applying to be a hitman on a parody website, according to reports.
On Thursday, 21-year-old Josiah Ernesto Garcia was charged with the use of interstate facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire by using the fake hitman website “Rentahitman.com.”
Garcia, who reportedly needed money to support his family, began contacting the website on Feb. 16 when he filed an employment inquiry form, indicating that he was interested in becoming a hitman.
“Garcia submitted an employment inquiry indicating that he was interested in obtaining employment as a hit man. Garcia followed up on this initial 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 a press release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.
The 21-year-old remained in contact with the website over the next several days, providing his driver’s license, headshot, and resume.
“Im 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,” Garcia said through a follow-up email. “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!”
Bob Innes, the owner of the website, replied to Garcia after receiving an order from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), writing, “Josiah, a Field Coordinator will be in touch in the near future. You will receive a message when they are ready. Timing is based on client needs.”
An undercover FBI agent was then assigned to pose as a representative for the website and contact Garcia for a phone interview, which led to the two meeting in person, where Garcia said he had been “looking into [killing people for money] for a while.”
Following Garcia’s arrest, the FBI searched his home and recovered an AR-style rifle, the same one he said he would use if he were to get the hitman job.
Rentahitman.com was created in 2005 by four friends in an effort to start their own cyber security business. The name was a play on words with “Rent as in hire us, Hit as in network traffic, and men, because there were four of us,” Innes explained to People in November.
