BUFFALO, New York—An East Aurora woman has been arrested after attempting to hire a hitman to injure her ex-boyfriend.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of New York confirmed Yanyan Lesser, 47, was arrested and charged with transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure another person in either interstate or foreign commerce.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Homeland Security Investigations in St. Paul, Minnesota, revealed that an unidentified individual using the code name, TREE I, conspired with another unknown individual on a dark web site, between Feb. 14 and 19, 2019, to commit a crippling assault of “G.Z” (Lesser’s ex-boyfriend) who lives in Orlando, Fla.
“TREE I” directed what investigators believe was a hitman, to “break ‘G.Z’s’ bones and leave him permanently confined to a wheelchair or crutches.”
G.Z. was interviewed by investigators at his home and unaware of any threat but stated his ex-girlfriend was unstable and would be capable of something like this.
East Aurora woman accused of trying to hire hit man to maim ex-boyfriend https://t.co/2uMWxepbsi
— WGRZ (@WGRZ) March 8, 2019
Following an investigation, including a review of cell phone and bank records, it was determined Lesser is “TREE I.”
Some of the instructions provided by Lesser to the purported hitman included:
“Because of a business dispute, I would like to give this guy a lesson: give him a good beating and legs broken, waist broken and even cripple the mark of his legs. It needs to look like a robbery, looks like To rob of his money or property, [it does] not looks like revenge.”
“I will add $2500 more to cover the cost of beating, crippling and robbery look like job. Please remember must be looks like a robbery! That’s very important.”
East Aurora woman tried hiring hitman to maim ex, give him a ‘good beating’: Prosecutors https://t.co/m8HQnituec
— 13WHAM (@13WHAM) March 8, 2019
“And please let hitman knows that Chinese guy no speak English also no understanding English too. So when hitman to do the job with crippling and looking like robbery, remember to yelled at that Chinese guy ‘money, money’ because that’s only the English word that guy can understand.”
Lesser made two Bitcoin transfers totaling over $7,000 to a Bitcoin wallet address in control of the dark web site to facilitate the assault.
Lesser faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Prosecutors: #EastAurora woman charged in plot to have hitman maim ex-boyfriend. https://t.co/CfEoAvgIV2
— News 4, WIVB-TV (@news4buffalo) March 8, 2019
Murder and Violent Crimes
The number of murders and violent crimes committed in the United States dropped slightly in 2017, according to new crime statistics released in September 2018.
“Crime declined nationwide last year, consistent with our earlier analyses of 2017 data in the nation’s 30 largest cities,” Ames Grawert, senior counsel for the Justice Program at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York, told the Washington Times. “That’s the good news, the bad news is that even while crime is falling, the number of Americans incarcerated remains near-record highs. Now is the time to address the problem.”
The number of cases of manslaughter and murder dropped 0.7 percent in 2017 from the prior year, the report said.
Rapes rose by 3 percent and aggravated assault rose by 1 percent but overall violent crimes dropped 0.2 percent, the report added.
In Pennsylvania back in 2017 the violent crime rate was lower than the national rate last year at 313.3 per 100,000 residents, Patch.com reported. This includes 739 murders and non-negligent manslaughters. The murder rate in Pennsylvania of 5.8 per 100,000 people overtook the national rate of 5.3.
Two Pennsylvania cities were listed as “Murder Capitals of America” in 2018. Chester in Delaware County and Harrisburg, the state capitals, also received the infamous title, Patch.com reported and cited website NeighborhoodScout.
Chester came in second in the United States after notorious East St. Louis, Ill. In Chester, a city with a population of 34,000, 23 murders are recorded in the latest data from the year 2016. In Harrisburg, which has 49,000 residents, there were 13 murders for the same year.
The Epoch Times reporters contributed to this report
