Silence might be golden and ignorance may be bliss, but the two came together in a rather shocking way for a Washington Heights man, who allegedly tried to hire a hitman to kill his noisy neighbors .
The New York Daily News reports that federal authorities arrested Joel Rosquette on Tuesday after he unwittingly enlisted the aid of an undercover FBI agent, who he thought was a professional assassin, to kill his neighbors because they were too noisy and partied too much.
According to the New York Daily News , the 50-year-old Rosquette’s plan was doomed for failure at the outset when he made contact with a confidential informant back in May 2017, who agreed to do the deed for $10,000 and a down payment.
The unemployed tour-bus driver then allegedly told the informant that he needed some time to raise the money — a deal the informant agreed to. From there the die was cast.
Rosquette allegedly had originally wanted to snuff out the building manager because the manager apparently would not confront the noisy troublemakers, who were purported drug dealers as well as disturbers of the peace.
The informant met with Rosquette again in June 2017 to seal the deal and inform him that another triggerman was on the case.
By the time Rosquette met with the “hitman” in February, he had changed his mind and allegedly opted just to blow his neighbors away instead, according to CNN . Rosquette later allegedly decided to add another person to his list to be killed.
At that point, things really began to go off the rails. The cash-strapped Rosquette allegedly offered the “assassin” a $200 stipend if he robbed a Staten Island gas station and knocked off the attendant.
This murder was ordered to raise the cash for the initial murder plot, according to the report. The undercover agent told Rosquette a few days later that the station attendant was fish food and they could now proceed with the main event.
Rosquette then allegedly instructed the undercover agent to kill the main targets, which possibly included one minor, and make it look like a robbery.
Unfortunately for Rosquette he was then taken into custody, his plans for blissful silence dashed because of blissful ignorance. He now faces up to 30 years in prison.
