Boston man pleads guilty in scheme to hire someone to kill his estranged wife and her boyfriend

BOSTON (AP) — A Boston man pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of offering to pay a contract killer $8,000 to kill his estranged wife and her boyfriend, though he was actually dealing with an undercover federal agent.

Authorities were tipped off by an informant in November 2022 that Mohammed Chowdhury, 47, was seeking help to have his wife killed, and the informant provided Chowdhury’s phone number to law enforcement. An undercover agent posing as a contract killer then contacted him, and Chowdhury met with the agent and agreed to pay $4,000 per killing, authorities said.

Chowdhury pleaded guilty to two counts of using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.

“Mr. Chowdhury’s callousness and disregard for human life is shocking. Not only did he ignore the restraining order filed against him by his wife, he sought to have her and her boyfriend killed,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement. “This case is a stark reminder of the heinous nature of domestic violence and its potential to escalate into unthinkable acts.”

An attorney for Chowdhury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In his conversations with undercover agents, authorities said Chowdhury claimed his wife wouldn’t let him see his children and that “he wanted the undercover agents to rob and beat his wife and her boyfriend so that he would not be a suspect.”

Chowdhury went on to ask how they might get rid of the body and repeatedly told them that he didn’t want there to be any evidence, according to prosecutors. He also provided the undercover agents with a photograph of his wife and her new boyfriend as well as the addresses where they lived and they worked, and their work schedules.

The charges carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.