A frightening new report confirms that Justin Bieber was at the center of an assassination plot last month, one both planned and eventually called off by a convicted killer and rapist named Dana Martin.
Serving a pair of life sentences for his crimes, Martin allegedly tasked Las Cruces prison inmate Mark Staake to carry out the awful deed once Staake was released.
Sources tell KRQE News that Staake and his nephew, Tanner Ruane, were scheduled to actually kill Bieber and then castrate him with a paisley tie (in the manner Martin committed his murders) in New York City last month.
It's unclear why this evil plan was hatched, but Martin has a tattoo of the singer on his leg and a purpoted obsession with the Biebs.
However, for unexplained reasons, Martin told the authorities of the scheme just in time - and Staake was recently arrested (on outstanding warrants) in Vermont.
Ruane, meanwhile, did actually arrive in New York, but cops nabbed him before he could carry out his orders. The hired gun, eerily, was found with a pair of pruning shears on his person.
Somewhere, Selena Gomez is grateful they were never put to use.