Woman accused of plotting to kill 'prominent Canberran' parents using dark web granted bail

The 26-year-old appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court via audio-visual link on Tuesday, and thanked Special Magistrate Jane Campbell upon learning she would be free to leave Canberra's jail.

She had spent more than four months behind bars on remand, having been arrested in December and charged with two counts each of attempted murder and inciting murder.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to those charges and related allegations of burglary and theft.

Her lawyer, Tom Taylor, said on Tuesday that it might be up to two years before the woman's case was committed for trial, with authorities waiting on what they believe is crucial evidence from entities in the United Kingdom and United States.

The court heard that evidence included details of cryptocurrency transactions the woman allegedly made over the dark web.

"We're in this territory where we just don't know how long it's going to take for this material to come in," Mr Taylor said, noting that it was almost certain to be at least 12 months.

Prosecutor Katie McCann conceded that the likely delays amounted to special or exceptional circumstances, which must be made out in bail applications for people charged with attempted murder.

She said requests for assistance had been sent to both the UK and the US, with the UK one considered particularly important.

"That is being rushed through as quickly as we can," Ms McCann said.

But in light of the anticipated delays, she and Mr Taylor agreed on a set of release conditions described by Ms Campbell, who granted bail, as "extensive".

They include that the woman report to police daily, observe a curfew, live at a particular address, and refrain from contacting her parents.

The Canberra Times has previously revealed that the accused woman stood to inherit more than $2.5 million if her parents, who have been described in court as "prominent Canberrans", died.

Police have claimed that the 26-year-old broke into her parents' home in September 2020 and used her mother's laptop to make unauthorised bank transfers to her herself.

Two days later, she allegedly bought more than $6000 worth of Bitcoin and accessed a dark web site named "The Sinaloa Cartel Marketplace", which advertised murder-for-hire services for as little as $7000.

"Users can create an account and submit a 'job' request, which includes the ability to upload images of the intended targets," police have said in court documents.

According to investigators, the woman contacted site administrator "Juan", writing: "Willing to pay $20,000 AUD to have this done as soon as possible. 2 individuals, death by accident if at all possible."

She allegedly went on to give her parents' names and address.

The person calling themselves Juan wrote back, police claim, with: "Hi, Ok, that is agreeable. $20,000 AUD for the two individuals as specified, death as accident. Do you have bitcoin? Let me know."

A user alleged to be the 26-year-old woman replied: "Have placed money into my wallet here. I require this job to be done asap."

Police have alleged that the woman provided Bitcoin worth about $6032, prompting "Juan" to ask for the balance and enquire as to whether the targets would be armed.

According to officers, "Juan" sent further messages requesting additional payment, but the woman never responded.

A UK-based journalist, who had been commissioned by the BBC to produce a podcast on "contract violence websites", alerted police after coming across details of the alleged murder contract.

Detectives ultimately formed a view that the marketplace, which is no longer online, was "likely a fraudulent site which takes Bitcoin from customers, though delivers no services in return".

The accused woman is due back in court on May 18.

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