From Rolling Stone · Nancy Dillon · · 2m
A Hit Man, a Custody Fight, and an FBI Sting
Prosecutors say a TikTok influencer, her lawyer father, and her ex tried to buy a singer's death on the dark web.
In brief
Prosecutors say a TikTok influencer, her lawyer father, and her ex tried to buy a singer's death on the dark web. The alleged plot ran for years, from a custody fight to a $10,000 bitcoin payment, until an undercover FBI agent picked up the phone posing as the hit man. Originally reported by Rolling Stone.
Three not guilty pleas
TikTok influencer Gabbie Gonzalez, her father, and her ex-boyfriend told a Los Angeles judge Monday they did not plot to kill Why Don't We singer Jack Avery with a paid assassin.
A custody fight at the center
Prosecutors say the trio conspired against Avery during a long, bitter battle over Gonzalez's seven-year-old daughter with the singer.
Who is charged
Gabbie Gonzalez, 25, Florida lawyer Francisco Gonzalez, 59, and Hawaii surf instructor Kai Faron Cordrey, 26, each face attempted murder, conspiracy, and solicitation of murder.
Her lawyer pushes back
Attorney Elliot Zarabi says the public has heard only one version so far, and that the case against his client leans on a co-defendant with reason to shift blame.
“There are two sides to every case, and thus far, the public has heard only one.”
The prosecution's arc
A deputy DA wrote that the conduct moved from family-court filings to surveillance and intimidation, then to a funded murder-for-hire plot.
“the obstacle to their desired control”
Ten thousand in bitcoin
The complaint alleges Gonzalez's father wired Cordrey $10,000 in April 2021, which Cordrey moved into a Gemini crypto account to hire a killer.
LizardKing69 gets a target
Cordrey allegedly contacted a dark web murder-for-hire account under that alias, named Avery, gave a Los Angeles address, and said any method would do.
The hit man was an agent
By September 2021 an undercover FBI agent posing as the assassin was on the phone discussing payment and proof of death. The father allegedly used the password "Bullrun."
A recorded call in 2022
More than a year later, Gabbie allegedly discussed with Cordrey how to handle the threat of exposure, saying her father had been handling most of it.
“he had been handling most of it”
What Avery says he lived through
The singer says the FBI told him in 2021 that a hit man had been hired. He rushed to collect his daughter from a foster family as Gonzalez's relatives called relentlessly.
“I was notified by the FBI that a hit man was hired to kill me.”
What it means
The alleged plot ran for years, from a custody fight to a $10,000 bitcoin payment, until an undercover FBI agent picked up the phone posing as the hit man.
