Bellflower Woman Charged In Murder-For-Hire Plot Against Boyfriend
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A Bellflower woman is expected to be arraigned Jan. 4 on federal charges that she contracted with an FBI informant to kill her boyfriend in exchange for a portion of the proceeds she expected to collect from a life insurance policy.
Rasheeda Johnson Turner, 37, was arrested late Wednesday and charged in a federal criminal complaint with use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Turner, who used the online monikers "Fiesty" and "Mz. Fiesty," was ordered held in a federal lockup pending further proceedings.
The complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court alleges that Turner sought assistance in murdering her 55-year-old boyfriend -- who is identified in court documents by the initials L.G. -- so that she could collect the proceeds from his life insurance policy.
Turner told the informant she was the beneficiary of a $150,000 life insurance policy and that she would pay the killer $50,000, according to the document.
During a series of conversations over the past two weeks, Turner told the informant that she initially planned to kill the intended victim herself -- and she had obtained "pure acid" as part of the scheme -- but feared being discovered and did not follow through with the plan, according to an affidavit attached to the complaint.
The U.S. Attorney's Office alleges that in the days after their initial meeting and discussion of the plot, Turner called the informant and said, "that fly needs to be swatted," which the informant interpreted as meaning Turner wanted the murder to occur soon.
At one point, she allegedly told the informant, "I was gonna off blood, myself, but it's hard because I got a kid," the affidavit states.
During a Dec. 8 meeting in a Lakewood park, Turner told the informant that she wanted the boyfriend killed before he could take her off the life insurance policy and cut off her access to his bank accounts, according to the affidavit. Turner labeled the murder plot "Operation Dumbo," telling the informant that she wanted the man killed this week.
Turner had shown the informant an app on her mobile telephone which allowed her to track the location of the intended victim's telephone. On Wednesday, the informant called Turner and asked where the victim was located at that moment. Turner allegedly provided the location of the intended victim and confirmed that the informant would be paid for the murder. The FBI then contacted the victim and arrested Turner.
The defendant has a 2005 conviction for forgery and theft and a 2016 arrest for battery of a spouse/relation, which involved an assault on L.G., according to the affidavit. Based on social media postings and various websites, Turner also appears to be involved in amateur pornography, the document states.
If found guilty of the murder-for-hire charge alleged in the complaint, Turner would face up to 10 years in federal prison, prosecutors noted.
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