Haddonfield Man Who Paid Hitman To Kill Kid Sentenced To Prison

HADDONFIELD, NJ — A Haddonfield man was sentenced to prison Tuesday for hiring a hitman to murder a child. John Michael Musbach paid $20,000 in Bitcoin to have the child killed so the victim couldn't testify in Musback's child-pornography case.

Musbach, 34, was sentenced in Camden federal court to six years, six months in prison. He faced up to 10 years after pleading guilty Feb. 2 to one count of knowingly and intentionally using and causing another to use a facility of interstate and foreign commerce — that is the internet — with the intent that a murder be committed.

In the summer of 2015, Musbach exchanged sexually explicit photographs and videos online with a 13-year-old New York resident, according to federal prosecutors. When the victim's parents found out, they contacted police.

New York law enforcement identified Musbach — then a Galloway resident — and contacted the Atlantic County Prosecutor's office. ACPO officers arrested Musbach in March 2016 on child-pornography charges and executed a search warrant at his home.

Musbach wanted the victim killed so they couldn't testify against him in the pending criminal case, authorities said. From May 7-20, 2016, he repeatedly communicated with the administrator of a murder-for-hire website on the dark net.

The man asked whether a 14-year-old was too young to target. Upon hearing that age wasn't an issue, Musbach paid about 40 bitcoin — approximately $20,000 at the time — for the hit, federal prosecutors said.

When pressed for an additional $5,000, Musbach tried to cancel. The website's administrator then revealed that the website was a scam and threatened to reveal Musbach's info to law enforcement.

Since then, Musbach pleaded guilty in October 2017 to endangering the welfare of a child by sexual contact. He was sentenced the following February to a two-year suspended sentence with parole supervision for life.

A"cooperating informant" sent law enforcement their messages with Musbach in 2019. Musbach was indicted in April 2021.

As part of the sentencing, Musbach must pay a $30,000 fine and becomes subject to three years of supervised release.