Man tried to pay Indiana hitman to kill his ex-wife, feds say. He’s going to prison
An Illinois man who pleaded guilty to hiring a hitman to kill his wife and her family members in exchange for drugs has been sentenced to more than 18 years in prison, federal officials say.
John Gierek, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts of using an interstate commerce facility in the commission of a murder-for-hire, according to a Feb. 13 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of Indiana. Gierek’s sentence will be followed by two years of supervised release.
Between October 2023 and March 2024, Gierek arranged for an acquaintance to kill several people “in exchange for a quantity of drugs and the partial forgiveness of a drug debt,” per the release.
Gierek asked him to ”kill his estranged wife, her mother, grandmother and her 8-year-old son,” WFFT reported. Gierek planned to pay him for the killings with four 8-balls of cocaine and forgiving a $2,000 debt, according to the news outlet.
He also wanted the informant to kidnap his wife’s friend so he could rape her before killing her as well, according to a criminal complaint cited by WFFT.
The man he hired informed the FBI and “secretly recorded” conversations with Gierek during a five-month period in which they detailed plans to kill Gierek’s ex-wife and three of her family members, according to WANE.
Gierek also provided the man tape, pepper spray and a taser for the task, per the release.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance with police in Indiana and Illinois, according tothe release.
The informant was acquainted with Gierek for more than four years, bought cocaine from him and shared an interest in snakes with him, WFFT reported from the complaint.
This story was originally published February 14, 2025 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Man tried to pay Indiana hitman to kill his ex-wife, feds say. He’s going to prison."
