Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast
He Hired a Hitman To Kill His Rival - The Christopher Pence story
24 Mar 2025
In 2021, Christopher Pence, a 43-year-old from Cedar City, Utah, attempted to hire a hitman via a dark web site, to murder two individuals in Hoosick Falls, New York. The intended victims were the biological parents of children Pence had adopted, and the plot was motivated by ongoing custody disputes. Authorities intercepted the scheme before any harm occurred, leading to Pence's arrest in October 2021.
Full Episode
So this guy, his name's Pence. And Pence really wants kids. No, no, no, like bro really wants kids. Like a lot of kids. Like a lot, a lot of kids. Which means he's gonna have to do a ton of smashing. Luckily for him, he has a wife. This woman, Michelle. And Michelle also wants a bunch of kids, and so they smash, or however kids are made these days, and nine months later, they have a kid.
And then they have another one, and then another one, and then another one. And so by the year 2000, they have four kids. Four kids is a lot, but see, that isn't quite enough for Pence and Michelle. And so they smash and have another kid. A few years later, they have another one. Then years later, another one, and then another one, and then another one, and finally one more.
And so by 2017, they have 10 kids total. And then, unfortunately, one of them dies of sudden infant death syndrome. And so they're back down to nine. But then they smash and have another kid, so now they have 10 again. And so Pence, Michelle, and their 10 kids are one big happy evangelical Christian family because they're super religious.
And 10 kids is a ton, but this still isn't enough for Pence and Michelle. They still want more. And one day, they finally get what they want. Cause they're out in their RV on a family road trip and Michelle gets on the internet and she checks a message board for parents who homeschool their kids and she sees a post.
And the post says that this other woman and her husband are working on some marital issues and they're looking for someone to temporarily take care of their six kids. And Michelle is like, I want to take care of their six kids. We already got 10, but let's add six more. And so Michelle writes this couple back and this couple is Mr. and Mrs. Cordero.
And so Michelle connects with Mr. and Mrs. Cordero and they agree to meet up. So the Pence family drives their RV all the way up to Massachusetts to meet up with these people. Now, the Corderos have six kids, so the Pences agree to take five of these six kids.
The one kid, the oldest son they don't take, is special needs, so I guess they just leave that kid behind with his parents, which seems kind of messed up. But anyway, the Pences take five kids, and they put them in their RV with their other ten kids, so now they have 15 kids total, and they all drive back to Washington. Now back at home, the Pences are somewhat strict.
They homeschool all these kids, they make them study the Bible, their house is always spotless because I guess they're making the kids clean up the place all the time. But whatever, the five Cordero kids seem happy there. Meanwhile, back in Massachusetts, the Corderos gave up five of their kids, I guess because they couldn't take care of them. However, they still want contact with them.
So the Pences agree to let the Corderos have some contact with their five kids, and they're even allowed to come visit them a couple of times a year. And about a year goes by, and I guess this arrangement is still going. Which, by the way, the house they live in is only 1,900 square feet.
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