Multi-millionaire hired numerous hitmen in murder-for-hire plots against wife — then killed himself as cops closed in: FBI



A prominent south Florida developer hired numerous hitmen to kill his wife of 32 years, according to the FBI. The multi-millionaire reportedly killed himself just as law enforcement officials were closing in on him.

The FBI said they have recorded phone calls that have incriminated several suspects accused of traumatizing Tatiana Pino — the estranged wife of Sergio Pino.

Investigators believe the motive for the husband's alleged murder-for-hire plot was because his wife rejected his divorce settlement offer of $20 million.

On June 23, a male allegedly pointed a gun at Pino's daughter — 26-year-old Alessandra Pino. The daughter reportedly told a 911 operator, "Oh my gosh. My mom is here. They might have shot her."

Pinecrest Police Department Chief Jason Cohen told Fox News, "[Tatiana] came home from her morning errands, and as she pulled in the driveway, this person pulled up, got out of the car with a firearm. Her daughter actually came out of the house and kind of went face to face with this gunman who clearly wasn't there for the daughter because he, from what I understand, he had the ability to shoot her if he wanted to, and he didn't."

Cohen added, "The guy ended up fleeing because our officers started responding, and he was not able to do what we believe he was there to do that day. We think he was there to likely take her life, Tatiana's life at that point."

A year earlier, someone slammed a rented Home Depot truck into an SUV that Tatiana was driving — in the same driveway where the gun threat took place.

Cohen explained, "She came home from being out, and when she pulled into her driveway, there was a Home Depot flatbed rental truck that was sitting on the street waiting for her. And as she pulled in, it kind of rammed her vehicle and took off."

"It was brought to our attention that this incident here was likely much more than just somebody crashing into her while she's coming home," Cohen stated. "We were made aware of a lot of the background of what had been going on with Mrs. Pino, the accusations of her being poisoned or drugged by potentially her soon-to-be ex-husband … it started to make sense that this was just another piece in that big puzzle."

Tatiana filed for divorce in April 2022.

The murder-for-hire plot to kill Tatiana reportedly began as early as July 2022.

'Now you can’t shake the rap. Your two boys now, or whoever the f*** they are, they can shake the rap.'

U.S. attorney Markenzy Lapointe said hitmen even "obtained fentanyl to assist Sergio Pino in his effort to kill his wife."

"Mrs. Pino had to die before their next divorce proceedings," Lapointe said.

The FBI investigated the case and zeroed in on Sergio Pino.

On July 16, the FBI conducted a search and arrest operation at the Pinos' $8 million waterfront Coral Gables home, but Pino allegedly committed suicide just as law enforcement officials were closing in on him.

The FBI said in a press release that "Sergio Pino was discovered by the FBI inside the residence deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound."

Sam Rabin, Pino’s criminal defense attorney, stated that "Sergio Pino took his own life today. The level of law enforcement activity at his residence was unprecedented and unnecessary, especially since we had offered to surrender him, should that have become necessary. Today’s events mark a very tragic ending to an investigation that we were confident we could successfully defend. There were many rumors and allegations, but what was lacking was evidence."

Pino's alleged suicide ended the criminal case against him, but police have been scrutinizing other suspects.

The U.S. Attorney's Office announced in a July 31 news release that suspects have been charged and indicted for their "respective involvement in a campaign to stalk, torment, and attempt to kill" Tatiana Pino, including Bayron Bennett, 33; Fausto Villar, 42; Avery Bivins, 36; Clementa Johnson, 47; Diori Barnard, 47; Jerren Keith Howard, 38; Michael Jose Dulfo, 42; and Edner Etienne 27. If convicted, the suspects would face a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The FBI said it has recorded phone calls between Villar and Bivins. Both served time in Florida state prison — Bivins for attempted felony murder and armed robbery and Villar for armed robbery.

“It’s going to be good, everything gonna be straight,” Bivins allegedly told Villar.

“Straight. But the f***ing smoke has to clear,” Villar replied. “Everything has to clear, smoke has to clear. So with what you got, try to fend off.”

“It’s going to be good, everything gonna be straight,” Bivins tells him.

“When this b**** gets over and done with, know this — we’re all good, you know what I’m saying?” Villar allegedly told Bivins. “Everything is going to be good.”

After members of Bivins' crew was arrested, Villar became worried about law enforcement cracking down on them.

“Why would you, if you get pinched, they’re going to have, this becomes now a conspiracy,” Villar reportedly told Bivins. “Now you can’t shake the rap. Your two boys now, or whoever the f*** they are, they can shake the rap.”

Villar advised Bivins to delete his social media accounts.

The FBI said Bivins agreed to a deal of $150,000 from Villar to murder Tatiana and had already paid him $75,000. Reportedly, there was a $150,000 bonus in the offing if the act were to have been carried out without law enforcement detection.

Cohen said of the case, "I've been in law enforcement for 27 years, and something like this ... it seemed like something out of a Hollywood movie, but this was unfortunately real life."

Investigators believe the motive for the husband's alleged murder-for-hire plot was because his wife rejected his divorce settlement offer of $20 million. Financial statements revealed in the couple's divorce case showed the pair's 2022 net worth at more than $153 million and as much as $359 million.

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Russian chess champion allegedly caught on video trying to poison rival with mercury



A Russian chess champion has been accused of trying to poison her opponent during a recent tournament. The brazen move allegedly was caught on video.

Amina Abakarova, 40, faces a possible lifetime ban and potential criminal proceedings, NBC News reported.

'The actions she committed could have led to the saddest outcome.'

The incident occurred last Friday inside the tournament room of the Dagestan Chess Championship in Makhachkala, the capital of Russia's Republic of Dagestan.

Security video purportedly shows Abakarova entering the room with a bag about 20 minutes before the tournament was set to begin. The 34-second surveillance clip appears to show Abakarova spreading a substance over one of the chessboards.

Sazhid Sazhidov — Dagestan’s sports minister — released a statement on the Telegram messaging app Wednesday alleging that Abakarova, who has won the tournament before, spread a substance that later turned out to contain mercury, NBC News reported.

The Russian Chess Federation issued a statement Wednesday describing the situation as "an attempt to poison a participant in the championship of the Republic of Dagestan in Makhachkala."

The target of the alleged attempted poisoning was Abakarova's rival – 30-year-old Umayganat Osmanova.

About 30 minutes into a tournament match, Osmanova allegedly fell ill with nausea and dizziness. She reportedly required medical attention.

"I still feel bad. In the first minutes, I felt a lack of air and a taste of iron in my mouth. I had to spend about five hours on this board. I don’t know what would have happened to me if I hadn’t seen it earlier," Osmanova told Russia Today.

Osmanova added to Russian newspaper Izvestia that she noticed "some tiny balls" rolling out from under her board. She initially had no idea what they were but soon realized they could have been mercury, after which she notified chess officials.

Chess.com reported that Osmanova recovered from the alleged attempted poisoning and finished second in the tournament. Abakarova allegedly was expelled after the fourth round.

Russian outlet RTVI reported that Abakarova allegedly said she wanted to "knock her opponent out of the tournament." However, a police report claimed that Abakarova meant to scare her opponent and not actually harm her.

According to the New York Post, Abakarova later admitted to the poisoning and allegedly confessed to police that she had broken a thermometer and smeared mercury across the chessboard.

Police have detained Abakarova, who now faces up to three years in jail, according to the Mirror.

Andrey Filatov — president of the Russian Chess Federation — said the organization had temporarily suspended Abakarova from all competitions until a law enforcement investigation is completed.

ABC News reported that Sazhidov stated, "I am perplexed by what happened, and the motives that guided such an experienced athlete as Amina Abakarova are also incomprehensible to me."

"The actions she committed could have led to the saddest outcome. They threatened the lives of everyone who was in the chess house, including herself," Sazhidov added. "Now she will have to answer for what she did before the law."

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Husband sets up hidden camera, catches teacher wife poisoning his smoothie with deadly plant: Police



A Missouri man became suspicious that his teacher wife was trying to poison him, so he allegedly set up a hidden camera. The surveillance camera reportedly caught the woman poisoning his smoothie with a potentially deadly plant.

Sarah Scheffer, of Jefferson City, was arrested on Wednesday. She was charged with first-degree domestic assault, first-degree attempted murder, and armed criminal action.

Over the course of six weeks, Scheffer's husband said he experienced multiple occasions of peculiar and debilitating symptoms.

"The victim described eight occurrences in which the defendant provided a beverage or food that had an odd taste and shortly after ingesting he experienced extreme fatigue, confusion, blurred vision, severe cotton mouth, and nausea," the probable cause statement stated.

On Jan. 1, the husband confronted his wife after she reportedly served him a beverage with a "bitter taste."

Scheffer allegedly told her husband that she had urinated in his beverage. She then "admitted to putting an industrial strength adhesive in it," according to the probable cause statement. Scheffer allegedly changed her story once again and denied that she added any substances to his drink.

Following the alleged incident, the husband installed a surveillance camera in the couple's kitchen.

The husband claimed to have found a green bowl containing a root from a bag labeled "lily of the field" on Scheffer's desk.

The hidden camera purportedly caught Scheffer preparing a smoothie for her husband. Scheffer added the contents from a green bowl into the smoothie, according to the statement.

The husband presented the video to the police. Scheffer confessed to putting lily of the valley in the smoothie when confronted by law enforcement, according to the probable cause statement.

"[Scheffer] admitted to adding a root of the 'lily of the valley' into the blender while preparing a smoothie drink of the victim," the probable cause statement read. "[Scheffer] admitted doing this with the intent to cause the victim harm... admitted to knowing that ingesting 'lily of the valley' could result in death... [and] admitted knowing the act was illegal."

WebMD warns of the dangers of lily of the valley: "The lily of the valley plants are extremely toxic. All parts of the plant can cause illness when eaten. It is categorized as having major toxicity. The lily of the valley contains several compounds that can affect the heart. It may be used in very small quantities in medication, but ingesting the plant can lead to severe illness, cardiac distress, and even death."

The smoothie was allegedly placed in the refrigerator.

Officers with the Jefferson City Police Department seized the blender and sent the contents of the blender to a state laboratory for testing.

Scheffer is being held without bail at the Cole County Jail.

According to ABC News, "Police said they believed she would be at risk for failing to appear in court in response to a criminal summons because she allegedly said she has a relationship with someone who lives in Pakistan and 'has conducted Google searches for flights to Pakistan,' the probable cause statement said."

KMIZ reported that Scheffer is a 37-year-old part-time design and art teacher at Calvary Lutheran High School in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Scheffer has reportedly been placed on leave by the school following the accusations. She is no longer on the school's online faculty page.

"The alleged conduct was outside of the employee’s association with the school and did not involve a student or any other school personnel," Calvary Lutheran executive director John Christman said in a statement. "As a Christian community, Calvary Lutheran High School believes in protecting the well-being of all individuals who are part of our programs and we seek to respond in a caring and sensitive manner to everyone in our school community. With this in mind, consistent action has been taken in response to the notification."

Teacher in Jefferson City charged with attempted murder for husband's alleged poisoning www.youtube.com

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Russian Dissident Alexei Navalny Out of Coma Following Suspected Poisoning

Doctors removed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny from a medically induced coma and say he is "responding to verbal stimuli," Berlin’s Charité hospital announced Monday.