Assassins plot to castrate, kill Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber at Z100's Jingle Ball. Photo/AP

A pair of would-be killers-for-hire have been arrested over an alleged plot to capture, castrate and kill Justin Bieber, a report says.

Albuquerque-based station KRQE television revealed Mark Staake and his nephew Tanner Ruane planned to kidnap and kill the pop superstar after a recent show in New York.

They had gone so far as to buy murder tools and decide what kind of tie they would use to strangle the singer, the report said.

Police investigators told KRQE the murder plot was hatched when Staake met Dana Martin at a state prison near Las Cruces in New Mexico.

Martin was serving two life sentences for raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in Vermont.

He recruited Staake to carry out four murders after he got out of prison, including one where he would kill Bieber, the report said.

All the murders were meant to be strangulations carried out with a paisley neck tie, which was a signature of Martin's crimes, it said.

Staake recruited Ruane to help him with the murders, with the younger man reportedly in charge of carrying out castrations on the victims.

However, Staake was arrested in Vermont on outstanding warrants before he could carry out any killings.

Police then recorded phone calls where Ruane told Martin he was disappointed he couldn't carry out the murders.

Ruane was arrested after police found him in a New York hotel room with murder tools and pruning shears.

Martin is reportedly obsessed with Justin Bieber and has a tattoo of the superstar on his leg.

- Herald Online