‘Dim-Witted Desperado’ Pleads in Craiglist Hit Man Case

Criminal Justice

‘Dim-Witted Desperado’ Pleads in Craiglist Hit Man Case

Posted Apr 21, 2008, 09:42 am CST
By Martha Neil

A married Michigan woman who advertised on Craigslist for a hit man to murder her boyfriend's wife has pleaded guilty to three federal charges in the murder-for-hire scheme.

Three Californians who took note of Anne Marie Linscott's "freelance" employment ad on Craiglist in November 2007 contacted authorities, Reuters reported, and she now faces up to 10 years in prison on each charge, including intent to commit murder. A fourth charge, concerning an incendiary device that Linscott, whose age is variously given as 48 and 49, allegedly left outside her rival's home, in California, was dropped under a plea bargain.

Although Linscott played a "game of semantics" in court Grand Rapids, Mich., on Friday, contending that she had "left it up to" readers of her online ad to decide what to do in response to her solicitation, she finally admitted that she expected readers "would assume to kill" her rival, according to the Grand Rapids Press.

The case attracted international attention because of Linscott's unusual decision to advertise for a hit man on Craigslist, and earned her a place on a People magazine list of "dim-witted desperadoes," the Michigan newspaper notes.

Additional coverage:

Associated Press: "Woman charged in Craigslist hit-man case enters guilty pleas"

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