Two young Pennsylvania newlyweds lured a man to his death with a Craigslist ad because they wanted to kill someone together, police said.
Elytte Barbour, 22, and Miranda Barbour, 18, recently moved to nearby Selinsgrove from North Carolina and now face criminal homicide charges in LaFerrara's death.
Elytte and Miranda, plotted to kill before, but their plans never worked out until last month when Troy LaFerrara responded to an online posting on Craigslist that promised companionship in return for money, the Associated Press reported.
LaFerrara's body was found Nov. 12 in an alley in Sunbury, a small city about 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The 42-year-old Port Trevorton man was stabbed 20 times, police told the AP.
Elytte told investigators before his arrest on Friday night that he hid in the backseat of the couple's SUV as his wife picked up LaFerrara at a mall on Nov. 11. Then, on his wife's signal, he wrapped a cord around LaFerrara's neck, restraining him while Miranda stabbed him, according to Sunbury police.
Miranda initially denied knowing LaFerrara when she was charged on Wednesday, but her story changed as investigators gathered evidence, including the discovery that the last call received by the victim's cellphone was made from her number, according to a police affidavit.
In an earlier version of events, Miranda claimed meeting the victim in Selinsgrove, then driving with him to Sunbury, where they parked. She said LaFerrara groped her and she took a knife from between the front seats and stabbed him after he put his hand around her throat, according to the affidavit.
Police said Miranda told them earlier that she purchased cleaning supplies at a department store after stabbing LaFerrara. On Friday, police said Elytte told them he purchased the cleaning products, an account investigators said was backed up by surveillance footage.
After Miranda's arrest, Elytte told The Daily Item of Sunbury his wife, regularly hired herself out as a "companion" to men she met on various websites, a business venture he said he supported because it did not involve sexual contact.
"She is not a prostitute," he said. "What she does is meet men who have broken marriages or have no one in their lives and she meets with them and has delightful conversation."
Sunbury police Chief Steve Mazzeo told The Daily Item investigators will also be looking into the death of a man with whom Miranda had a 1-year-old child.
