'Catfishing,' which involves creating a fake online persona to trick others, has been put to many uses, from practical jokes to professional scams. But sometimes what starts out as fairly innocent takes a drastic turn for the worse.
AL.com reports on the story of Marissa Williams, 19, who had been living with her aunt in her Alabama home since April. Tensions arose quickly after Williams began bringing home men she befriended on Facebook. Ignoring her aunt's requests to stop inviting men over and attending parties with strangers, Williams blocked her aunt from viewing her Facebook profile.
The aunt then created the account of Tre 'Topdog' Ellis to chat to Williams. Court documents show that on their first day interacting, Williams offered the imaginary Tre her phone number and invited him to the house.
Soon after, she allegedly told Tre she was unhappy and wanted to be kidnapped, telling him to kill her aunt if necessary.
As time went on, the plan became more elaborate: according to court records she gave detailed instructions on how to murder her aunt, the aunt's boyfriend, her cousin and the family dog.
The aunt, disturbed by the plan, called the police, who promptly arrested Williams. Though she has apologised and claims that the plan is complete fantasy, she is charged with solicitation of murder.
