Woman posts murder-for-hire ad on Craigslist

Sacramento: The job posting said "freelance," and the employer was looking for a killer applicant.

A Michigan woman is behind bars and facing extradition to northern California, where FBI agents say she advertised on Craigslist, an online bulletin board, for someone willing to kill the unsuspecting wife of a man she had begun an affair with online.

Ann Marie Linscott, 49, offered $5,000 (Dh18,348) for the hit, had the name and work address of the woman she wanted dead and in e-mails with stunned job seekers described successful candidates as "silent assassins," according to agents and court documents.

"I've seen some screwy things, but I've personally never heard of anything like this," said Drew Parenti, special agent in charge of the Sacramento FBI office. "For a person to advertise openly for a hit man on Craigslist."

It is not the first crime ever solicited over the popular site. Craigslist has gained some level of notoriety for ads posted by prostitutes and the killing of a Minnesota woman last year who responded to an ad for a baby sitter. However, authorities and company officials say the murder-for-hire scheme appears to be the first of its kind.

Agents arrested Linscott, whom they say went by Ann Marie and used the simple alias "Marie," on Thursday at her home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Federal prosecutors will ask a judge tomorrow to make her stand trial in California.

A call to Linscott's court-appointed public defender was not immediately returned on Saturday.

Linscott's generic "freelance" ad gave no further details about the job, authorities said.

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said he understood her intention was only communicated to those who e-mailed her seeking additional information about the job.