A California man was convicted of hiring an undercover FBI agent posing as a hitman to kill the mother of his children.
Allen Gessen and Priscilla Chigariro shared a tumultuous, globe-trotting love story. Gesson was born in Russia. He met Chigariro at a fashion show in Zimbabwe in 2011.
One year later, they had a cultural wedding ceremony in Zimbabwe, but they never married legally. They had a child together, broke up, got back together, and moved to Russia.
The couple welcomed a second child through a surrogate, but Gesson took their son to the United States in 2019. Chigariro did not see her son until she obtained a visa for the court battle in 2021.
The judge ruled in Chigariro’s favor, stating that Gesson could not take their son back to Russia.
Gesson later took their son away again, and he was arrested in Canada while trying to take the boy to London.
Facing state kidnapping charges, Gesson devised a new plan in 2022. He had lunch with David Rizzo, an undercover agent posing as a mobster.
Rizzo said that through his government contacts, he could arrange for “about a hundred grand” for Chigariro to be “bounced out” of the country in six months or less.
Rizzo also suggested a cheaper, “more permanent” solution.
“It will be very quick, and it’ll be clean, and it’ll be final,” he said.
Gesson was surprised because he had researched this option in several countries and thought the amount would be around $220,000. He agreed to the contract with Rizzo for $50,000 and paid half up front.
Gesson insisted that the killing did not take place in front of the children. When Rizzo asked if he was “comfortable and you don’t have any regrets,” Gesson replied, “Oh yeah, hundred percent. Hundred percent on board.”
He also agreed to pay extra if Chigariro’s boyfriend was killed in the incident, calling it “a part of doing business.”
While Gesson was on vacation with his children, thinking the murder would take place that day, he was arrested.
Gesson was convicted of murder for hire and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that a murder for hire cannot exist between a real solicitor and a fake broker.
The appeals court rejected this argument in an opinion written by Judge Mark Bennett.
“The statute says nothing about the intent of the other party or parties to the proposed murder transaction,” Bennett wrote. “Thus, Gessen’s argument is contrary to the explicit requirements of the statute and seeks to add an element that is not contained in the statute.”
He also repudiated Gesson’s claim that he did not want Chigariro dead because neither he nor Rizzo, used the words “murder,” “kill,” or “murder-for-hire.”
“Gessen’s own words, recorded by law enforcement, support that he sought Rizzo’s help to hire someone to kill Chigariro as a cheaper, ‘more permanent’ alternative to the deportation scheme,” the judge stated. “Indeed, a reasonable jury could infer that Gessen’s concern about making sure the kids would not be present and his need for an alibi made little sense if Gessen had arranged only to have immigration officials remove Chigariro from the country.”
