A Boston man was indicted on federal charges related to a murder-for-hire scheme that targeted his wife and her boyfriend, prosecutors said Friday.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said that Mohammed Chowdhury, 46, was charged with two counts of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
He was originally arrested and charged with one count of murder-for-hire on Jan. 17.
On that day, prosecutors said, Mr. Chowdhury met with detectives to deliver a $500 deposit to undercover agents. The suspect confirmed during that meeting that he wanted his estranged wife and the man she left him for killed, according to authorities.
Agents took him into custody shortly after.
Mr. Chowdhury first began searching for killers in November when one person accepted his request and took the suspect’s money, according to court documents.
The husband said that he needed to murder done as soon as possible and was willing to rob a business to get the money together to pay the contract killer, prosecutors said.
But the person who corresponded with Mr. Chowdhury instead contacted law enforcement and an undercover agent then began communicating with Mr. Chowdhury while posing as a contract killer.
Prosecutors said that Mr. Chowdhury met multiple times with undercover agents whom he believed would fulfill the hit in December and January. The suspect claimed that his wife wouldn’t let him see their children, and that he wanted his wife and her boyfriend to be robbed and beaten to make the killings not look like a domestic dispute.
According to court documents, Mr. Chowdhury asked the agents “So how we gonna disappear his, uh, body?” and also said “No evidence. No evidence. No evidence from like, you know, that, uh, I did something, you know?”
Prosecutors say the suspect provided the agents with photos of his wife and her boyfriend, where they lived and worked, and even their work schedules. Mr. Chowdhury is accused of agreeing to pay $4,000 per murder, starting with the $500 deposit.
Mr. Chowdhury was previously charged with violating an Abuse Prevention Order in Boston Municipal Court that prohibited him from abusing, contacting, or coming within a certain distance of his wife in October 2019.
He pleaded to sufficient facts and received a continuance without a finding.
If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.