Man accused of applying to RentAHitman.com and taking money from an undercover agent for a contract killing is arrested

• A Tennessee man was arrested this week, charged with accepting money from an undercover FBI agent to kill someone.
• Josiah Garcia allegedly submitted an application to RentAHitman.com without knowing it was a parody site.

A Tennessee man has been arrested, accused of taking payment from an undercover FBI agent to act as a hitman after applying for the job on what he thought was a legitimate hiring website.

Josiah Garcia was arrested this week and charged with using interstate facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, authorities announced Friday. Court documents describe Garcia, 21, telling the site's administrator that he applied to the website because he was looking for work, needed money to support his family, and is expecting a child.

The website, RentAHitman.com, was created originally in 2005 by Bob Innes, as a way to advertise his cyber security business. Companies hired him to test their resistance to cyber attacks commonly called "hits," according to The Washington Post.

However, the cyber security business failed, and Innes decided to pivot the website to a parody mercenary site after receiving many requests through it for actual contract killers. Now, Innes manages the site filled with fake testimonials from fictional customers, but he forwards requests he thinks could be dangerous to law enforcement, the Post reported.

The court documents said Garcia submitted an application to the site in February, following up several times, and then reiterating his belief that his "military experience, and rifle expertise" made him qualified to perform mercenary work.

The resume Garcia submitted stated that he has been a member of the Air National Guard since July 2021, and he told the site's owner and investigators that he was unemployed other than his Guard work.

According to the complaint, the FBI directed Innes to inform Garcia on March 16 that he would be contacted by a "field coordinator" to discuss his first assignment. On April 3, an undercover FBI agent used the number Garcia provided to Innes, and the two spoke several times on the phone and by text before meeting in person.

Garcia confirmed to the agent that he was not a member of law enforcement, and the complaint alleges that he hoped his military employment wouldn't interfere with his ability to make money as a contract killer. The agent told Garcia several times that he could back out at any time, and that he would only be committing a crime if he agreed to commit a murder and take payment.

Prosecutors said in the complaint that Garcia only asked how soon he could start, and about the payments, and that Garcia told the agent multiple times that he had been looking into contract killing as a way to make money for a long time, and was comfortable with the psychological impact.

Garcia is accused of taking half of a $5,000 contract and accepting an assignment to kill a fictional person described as an abusive husband at a meeting earlier this week. He was arrested after allegedly asking if he needed to provide a photo of the body as proof. Authorities said they discovered an AR-style rifle upon searching Garcia's home, and that he had told the undercover agent he was planning to buy a handgun.

Court documents show that he came to the meeting intending to tell the "field coordinator" that he was having second thoughts because he had recently secured another job. However, once he arrived, investigators said Garcia accepted the payment and contract without mentioning second thoughts.

An order has been filed assigning Garcia a public defender, but court records do not yet list an attorney. The Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Garcia's claims of being in the Guard, but a spokesperson did confirm his enlistment to CBS News.