Malden man charged with trying to hire hit man to kill wife

A Malden man is charged with attempting to hire a “contract killer” who turned out to be an undercover agent to undertake the “demolition job” of killing his wife.

Massimo Marenghi, 54, is charged with one count of murder for hire, according to U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling’s office.

FBI Special Agent Bryce Ferrara wrote in the charging documents that a man told them that Marenghi had called him up and told him that Marenghi’s wife had taken out a restraining order against him — and Marenghi wanted to know if he could hire the man to kill the woman.

The man, whose identity the feds didn’t reveal, said Marenghi had been talking about killing his wife for months, and had had a text conversation with the man just that day about it, according to the feds. The man told Marenghi that whacking the woman would cost $10,000, at which point Marenghi started sending him identifying info about the wife, police say.

That’s when the man called a New Hampshire cop who lived near him and told him what was going on. The Northwood, New Hampshire Police Department kicked the case to the feds, who interviewed the informant the next day — and he agreed to work with them, they wrote.

On Jan. 13, the man texted Marenghi the number of a “contract killer” — really an undercover FBI agent, the documents say.

The man passed along coded language for Marenghi to use, such as identifying himself as “Boston,” calling the G-man “Mr. Smith” and describing the hit as a “construction job,” according to the feds.

Marenghi told “Mr. Smith” he needed “the problem eliminated,” and, on Friday, paid a $1,500 deposit for the “demolition job,” according to federal agents. The feds say they arrested him after he gave “Mr. Smith” a picture of his wife and a schedule indicating the “best time for the construction work to start.”

“Boston” faces up to 10 years behind bars.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3amLWLo