The US Department of Justice has arrested and charged a 37-year-old California woman with hiring a hitman to murder her 55-year-old boyfriend.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by Bleeping Computer, the events transpired in early December 2017.

Suspect wanted to cash in boyfriend's life insurance policy

The accused is named Rasheeda Johnson Turner of Bellflower, California, who at the time was in a relationship with a man identified in court documents only as L.G. and of age 55.

Turner and her child were the primary beneficiaries of a life insurance policy of $150,000 that L.G. took out in his name.

FBI agents who led the investigation claim Turner tried to have L.G. killed on suspicion he was getting close to another woman, and fearing L.G. might take her off the life insurance policy and cut off access to his bank accounts.

Turner unknowingly contacted an FBI informant

According to court documents, Turner allegedly tried to hire a first person to kill her boyfriend, but that individual declined. She later appealed to a second person, which unbeknown to her was an FBI informant, who informed his handler of the request.

During conversations and meetings with the FBI information, Turner admitted that she initially wanted to kill her boyfriend herself.

"I was gonna off blood, myself, but it's hard because I got a kid," she allegedly said. Turner told the informant that she procured pure acid from a plumber and planned to draw the victim into a room but abandoned her plans, fearing her kid would interrupt.

Turner allegedly used spyware to keep track of boyfriend

She also revealed that she installed a tracking app on her boyfriend's phone and was using it to track his location. She told the informant that her boyfriend was often sleeping in his car in the city of Compton, California.

The criminal complaint quotes Turner as saying the tracking app "tell me everywhere he at, when he moving and everything. It gonna tell me his home, [...] his movement." Turner then proceeded to show the informant a history of the victim's movements.

"I can get him at a location," Turner is quoted in the criminal complaint. "I can tell you when he over there. I can hit you from my other number."

"I just want him dead and his phone gone because, you know, we be texting back and forth," she supposedly told the informant.

Turner promised $50,000 for the murder

In meetings with the informant, Turner promised to give him $50,000 of the life insurance she was about to collect. She allegedly showed an image of the life insurance on her phone to the informant and paid a $500 advance for his murder-for-hire service.

On December 5, Turner allegedly called the informant and told him "the kids needed to be picked up early," which the informant interpreted as code for the need to expedite L.G.'s murder.

On December 7, she called again and allegedly told the informant "that fly needs to be swatted," referring to the need to have the victim killed soon.

The informant met with Turner the second day, wearing audio and video recording equipment, evidence which the FBI plans to show in court.

During that meeting, Turner arranged the final details of the crime. She provided the informant with a photo of L.G., prepared a plan to share the victim's location with the informant, and instructed the informant to text her the code "Operation Dumbo" once the deed was done. Turner planned to remove the tracking app from her smartphone once L.G. was dead.

Turner bragged about infallible plan

She also bragged to the informant about not fearing getting caught because she learned how to evade law enforcement by watching television shows.

"You gotta beat them at they own game," she allegedly said, "I watch all that killer shows, so it tells you how to get away with shit. It tells you what to do."

Turner was arrested on December 13, when the informant called her to ask for the victim's location to commit the crime. After providing an accurate location of the victim, FBI agents notified L.G. of the attack on his life and arrested Turner. She was arraigned in court on January 4, 2018.

If found guilty, Turner faces up to ten years in prison on the murder-for-hire charges. Turner was also arrested in 2016 on battery charges against L.G..