Massimo Marenghi, 56, of Malden, pleaded guilty to one count of murder-for-hire after he hired a hitman to kill his wife for him. The hitman was actually an undercover FBI agent.
On Jan. 1, 2021, Marenghi was in a messy divorce and complained about his wife seeking a restraining order against him. Marenghi asked an anonymous source for assistance with killing his wife. The person he spoke with went to law enforcement. At the direction of federal agents, the individual introduced Marenghi to an undercover agent who posed as a contract killer.
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A few weeks later, Marenghi met with the undercover agent and sought help to “eliminate” his problem as the pair “discussed a price of $10,000,” Marenghi provided the undercover agent with a photograph of his wife’s residence and explained how to evade detection by cameras while approaching the home.
‘He described how someone could stand behind the barrels at the end of the driveway such that the person would be hidden from any cameras and out of sight from his wife,” according to the criminal complaint.
On Jan. 29, 2021, Marenghi again met with the undercover agent and discussed his wife’s killing. Marenghi provided the hitman, “Mrs. Smith,” $1,500 cash as a deposit for the murder and explained that the sooner the “demolition job” takes place, the sooner he can pay the balance owed.
Massimo Marenghi, 54, of Malden is charged with trying to hire a hitman to murder his wife. The hitman turned out to be an undercover federal agent. If convicted, Marenghi faces up to 10 years in prison.
— WBZ NewsRadio (@wbznewsradio) January 30, 2021
He also provided the undercover agent with a photograph of his wife, the color, model, and license plate number of her car, the hours of operation of her place of business, and a schedule indicating when he would have custody of his children, which he said would be the “best time for the construction work to start.” Marenghi referred to the plans for the killing as “The Blueprint.”
Marenghi was placed into custody at that time.
In a case in which neither personal injury nor death results, the murder-for-hire charge provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
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Marenghi is scheduled to be sentenced on June 8.
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