In a chilling recount of a near-tragedy, a former corrections officer has spoken out about a horrifying plot in which a convicted murderer planned to kidnap, castrate, and kill global pop star Justin Bieber.
The revelation is featured in the upcoming episode of Hollywood Demons titled "Stalking the Stars on Investigation Discovery," where Sergeant Edgar Pinon details his interactions with Dana Martin, the mastermind behind the 2012 scheme.
Martin, who is currently serving two life sentences at a prison in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for the 2000 rape and murder of 15-year-old DeAndra Florucci, pled guilty to criminal solicitation to commit first-degree murder after orchestrating the plot from behind bars.
Despite being incarcerated, Martin recruited two accomplices — Mark Staake and Staake's nephew Tanner Ruane — to execute his plan.
The three intended to kidnap Bieber, his bodyguard, and two additional victims during the singer's visit to New York City in November 2012. Martin even had a tattoo of Bieber's face inked onto his leg and had reportedly tried to contact the singer through handwritten letters.
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"One morning, he wanted to speak to me personally, in private," Pinon recalled in the docuseries.
"Right away, he started talking about his tattoo of Justin Bieber. And he went on and on about how he had tried making contact... He had arranged for two people to travel to the East Coast and he gave them a hit list."
The plot was foiled on November 19, 2012, when Staake and Ruane took a wrong turn while heading toward Vermont and accidentally ended up in Canada. Their suspicious behavior at the border led to a search of their vehicle, which turned up pruning shears and neckties — tools allegedly intended for the gruesome crime.
In a taped interrogation, Martin chillingly admitted: "What we wanted to do for possible notoriety... was kidnapping him. The point of this whole thing was killing Justin Bieber." He added, "I'm a nobody in prison. I want Justin Bieber to know who I am."
Sergeant Pinon believes Martin's motive may have been more about infamy than murder. "In my opinion, I don't think Dana wanted to murder Bieber... My impression is that Dana wanted Justin Bieber to know who he was," he said.
The disturbing case remains one of the most bizarre celebrity-related crime attempts in recent history. Martin's fixation on the pop star — and his elaborate, nearly executed plan — serve as a haunting reminder of the dangers posed by obsession.
Martin and his accomplices were ultimately convicted, with Staake and Ruane pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
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Bieber, who was just 18 at the time and pictured with his mother Pattie in 2012, never publicly commented in detail on the plot but continued his career in the spotlight—unaware just how close he came to becoming the target of a deadly scheme, until maybe now.
Amid this bothersome news, Bieber, now 31, recently shared a video on Instagram capturing a tense encounter with paparazzi.
In the footage, he films a group of photographers taking pictures of him as he exits a gate, repeatedly stating, "Look at these guys, man." He captioned the post with a direct plea: "This has to stop."
Comments on the post were sympathetic, primarily claiming this is the first POV of a celebrity of how crazy the paparazzi can be.
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