FLORIDA – A Florida woman has been convicted in connection with a purported murder-for-hire plot, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida said in a statement.
According to Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, a federal jury in Tallahassee convicted Gretchen Buselli (a/k/a “Gretchen Yarbrough”), 48, of Tallahassee, of use of an interstate commerce facility in the commission of murder-for-hire and making a false statement to a federal officer.
The guilty verdict came after a five-day trial on Friday.
Evidence introduced during the trial revealed between on or about June 17, 2021, and on or about September 16, 2021, Buselli used the U.S. mail and a facility of interstate commerce, a cellular phone, with the intent that a murder be committed in violation of the laws of the State of Florida.
Testimony revealed that Buselli communicated with an acquaintance via U.S. mail, telephone calls, text, and an encrypted mobile application to solicit the murder of her estranged husband.
The acquaintance reported Buselli’s request to law enforcement, who then engaged an undercover agent to further the investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
Buselli allegedly communicated her desire to have her estranged husband killed to the undercover agent, describing the intended victim, his whereabouts, and his routines.
In subsequent conversations with the undercover agent, Buselli reportedly negotiated the price for committing the murder and discussed how the act would take place, acknowledging that she would be interviewed by law enforcement thereafter.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Buselli was later surveilled depositing the agreed-upon $5,000 payment at a public park. Following her delivery of the payment, agents said that they observed Buselli dispose of the clothing she had worn during the delivery of the payment.
After being advised by the undercover agent that her estranged husband had been killed, Buselli is alleged to have stated, thank you. When later questioned by law enforcement, Buselli reportedly made multiple false statements denying her involvement in the plot and her desire to have her estranged husband killed.
Buselli’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 27, 2022, at 10 a.m., at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before United States Chief District Judge Mark E. Walker.
Buselli faces up to 10 years imprisonment for the use of interstate commerce facility in the commission of murder-for-hire charge and up to five years imprisonment for making a false statement to a federal officer.
This conviction resulted from a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tallahassee Police Department, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Eric Mountin and Kaitlin Weiss.
