Justin Bieber was the target of a bizarre plot designed to kill the superstar and, according to some reports, deprive him of part of his anatomy.
A plan to kidnap and castrate the pop star at a Madison Square Garden performance last month in New York has been foiled by authorities, a variety of media outlets, including the New York Post, TMZ, ABC News, Fox News, the Associated Press and local television stations in New Mexico, reported. Reports of the foiled plot were first published on Wednesday and have taken on a life of their own, propelled through the 24-hour news cycle.
The plan seems to have begun with Dana Martin, 45, who is serving two life sentences for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Vermont in 2000. Martin, who is incarcerated in a prison in Las Cruces, N.M., was convicted of strangling the girl with a paisley tie.
While in prison, Martin met Mark Staake. Martin allegedly persuaded Staake, who was released last month, to agree to kill four people: two in Vermont, plus Bieber and the star’s bodyguard, KRQE-13 TV in New Mexico reported.
Staake recruited his nephew, Tanner Ruane, in the plot to strangle Bieber with a paisley tie and then castrate him, according to KRQE. Ruane had a set of pruning shears to perform the deed; some reports, quoting authorities, said he was to be paid $2,500 for each testicle.