Ohio animal rights activist Meredith Lowell charged with hiring hitman to murder random fur-wearer

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Meredith Lowell

(Credit: CBS/WOIO)

(CBS/AP) COLUMBUS, Ohio - Police say an animal rights activist in Ohio has been charged with soliciting a hitman to fatally shoot or slit the throat of a random fur-wearer.

Meredith Lowell, 27, appeared Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cleveland where a judge ordered her held by the U.S. Marshals Service pending a hearing next week, court records show. One of her defense attorneys, Walter Lucas, declined to comment.

Authorities say the FBI was notified in November of a Facebook page Lowell had made under the alias Anne Lowery offering $830 to $850 for the fatal hit and saying the ideal candidate would live in northeast Ohio, according to an FBI affidavit.

The affidavit says an FBI employee posing as a possible hitman later began emailing Lowell. She then offered him $730 in jewelry or cash for the killing of a victim of at least 12 years but "preferably 14 years old or older" outside a library near a playground in her hometown.

"You need to bring a gun that has a silencer on it and that can be easily concealed in your pants pocket or coat. ... If you do not want to risk the possibility of getting caught with a gun before the job, bring a sharp knife that is (at least) 4 inches long, it should be sharp enough to stab someone and/or slit their throat to kill them. I want the person to be dead in less than 2 minutes," says an email reprinted in the affidavit.

She told the undercover agent in the emails that she wanted to be on site when the slaying took place so she could distribute "papers" afterward, the affidavit says. Her hope was to be arrested so she could call attention to her beliefs and to get out of the home she shared with her parents and brothers who eat meat and eggs. They also use fur, leather and wool, investigators said.

Reprinted emails also say Lowell wrote that she sees nothing wrong with "liberating" animals from fur factory farms and laboratories since "soldiers liberated people from Nazi camps in World War 2."

Lowell faces a hearing next Tuesday to determine whether she will be given the opportunity to post bail or be detained without bond pending resolution of the case.

CBS affiliate WOIO reports the FBI announced Lowell will be charged with one count of solicitation to commit murder.

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by michaelt302 April 29, 2012 12:33 PM EDT: So surprised to hear that this 27-year-old lives at home with Mom and Dad. Usually people of this quality are working at a high-paying job and have their own home by now.; Reply to this comment


by michaelt302 April 29, 2012 12:33 PM EDT: So surprised to hear that this 27-year-old lives at home with Mom and Dad. Usually people of this quality are working at a high-paying job and have their own home by now.; Reply to this comment


by ryindy February 27, 2012 10:34 AM EST: Geeze, she doesn't look insane...; Reply to this comment


by npvere February 22, 2012 10:03 PM EST: $850 for the price of a life. For all the "I love animals" bit, is that how little she actually values a life? And a murder on a playground? So she can pass out materials? This is something more than just hating cruelty to animals. This girl has a genuine problem and should have been seeing a therapist rather than trying to hire a hit man. Too late now.; Reply to this comment


by joekcitizen February 22, 2012 12:02 PM EST: You're 27 years old. Why not just move out of your parent's home where they eat meat and other bad stuff. In prison you'll get that same cruel treatment. <shake my head>; Reply to this comment