Woman accused in bitcoin murder-for-hire case faces new charge
A 31-year-old nurse already accused of paying a dark web company to have her lover's wife killed now faces a new count of attempted first-degree murder.
Tina Jones, 31, formerly of the 700 block of River Road in Des Plaines, pleaded not guilty Thursday in DuPage County court to four counts of solicitation of murder for hire, two counts of solicitation of murder and the one new count of attempted first-degree murder.
All charges against Jones are Class X felonies, meaning she will not be eligible for probation if found guilty. She faces a maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious offense.
Judge George Bakalis also modified her bail Thursday to allow Jones, who currently lives with her parents in Grayson, Georgia, to attend a friend's wedding in Chatanooga, Tennessee, on Aug. 4.
Bakalis also allowed Jones to stay in Illinois for 27 hours, rather than the previously ordered 24 hours, to allow her time to meet with attorneys in Chicago on another matter.
Prosecutors say Jones paid $10,000 in bitcoin to the company in January to kill a Woodridge woman who works as a clinical social worker in Naperville.
The Cosa Nostra International Network, however, was deemed to be a scam. The CBS program “48 Hours” discovered the contract between Jones and the website while researching another story and alerted Woodridge police, authorities said.
Jones, a registered nurse at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, has been suspended pending an investigation.
The victim's husband is a practicing anesthesiologist who completed his residency at Loyola and is still based in Maywood.
Jones's next court date is scheduled for Aug. 16.