Queens woman accused of hiring hitman to kill lover's wife: officials

QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) -- A Queens woman is facing charges for allegedly trying to hire a hitman online to murder her lover's spouse, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Yue Zhou, 42, of Flushing, was arrested on June 5 in the Eastern District of Virginia and transported back to New York for arraignment.

Between March 25 and April 4, 2019, Zhou allegedly tried to hire a hitman through a murder-for-hire website on the dark web to kill her lover's wife, prosecutors said.

She paid a middleman in Brooklyn around $5,000 in cash and communicated with the website's administrator to confirm the payment, officials said.

Zhou allegedly gave detailed information about her lover's wife, including her address, work schedule and the best times to target her. She also allegedly tried to use the website to set up the murder of her lover's adult daughter, prosecutors said.

Zhou allegedly sent a text message to a neighbor of the daughter in February 2021, offering $10,000 and sexual favors in exchange for killing the daughter and disposing her body in a lake, officials said.

The website that Zhou paid on the dark web was a scam and there was no hitman for hire, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

“As alleged, the defendant took affirmative steps to hire a hitman to carry out the ruthless killing of the wife of her romantic partner,” said United States Attorney Breon Peace. “Her depraved plan was only thwarted because the website she used to set up the murder-for-hire was a scam."

Zhou will be arraigned in court on Monday.