LOUISVILLE, ky – In yet another bizarre story involving magical intervention, Dr. Stephanie Russell, a pediatrician in Louisville, Kentucky, allegedly sought the assistance of spiritual healers to cast a “death spell” on her ex-husband following a tumultuous custody dispute in which he was awarded custody of their children. The spell allegedly came with a ‘100% guarantee or money back,’ according to sources.
Court documents from the defense reveal a series of WhatsApp messages in which Russell contacts a practitioner of Quimbanda, a syncretic Afro-Brazilian religious and magical tradition that blends elements of African, indigenous, and European spiritual practices. Quimbanda originated in Brazil and is closely related to other Afro-Brazilian traditions like Candomblé and Umbanda.
In the WhatsApp messages, Russell asks, “Do you know about Quimbanda?” and then requests the practitioner’s price, guarantee, and “success rate.”
The practitioner responds, “death success rates are 85%,” that the “price depends on the number of people,” and offers a “100% guarantee or money back.” The cost would be “580 usd.”
Russell then asks “Do you use sacrifice?” and asks for spell details including if she can pay after the spell’s success.
The practitioner responded with “It’s a death spell my dear,” while also noting the results would be “accident, death in bed, heart attack or ??”
Dr. Stephanie Russell via Oldham County Detention Center
But there’s more. Russell reportedly sought out other bids.
Another practitioner wrote “100% results in 6 hours” and cut the price to “430 usd.”
Russel asked if the practitioner would use Quimbanda or Voodoo. The practitioner wrote back that they would be using Voodoo.
A third practitioner offered “Indian vedic magic.” This practitioner mentioned that harming the ex-spouse was dangerous. “What I can see is that he is into black magic and also has some type of protection. Killing him will harm you also. If you wish we can banish him so that he will be away from you and your family … I will advise you to go for a banishing spell only.”
Russell declines the banishing. “The only way we will have peace is if he dies. Is there anything you can do to cause the death?”
After some months, Russell abandoned the use of magickal intervention. Investigators said that Russell reached out to an individual she thought was an assassin-for-hire to kill her ex-husband and paid half of the negotiated retainer. It turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Kentucky wrote “Russell ultimately agreed to pay $7,000 to the UCE in exchange for murdering her ex-husband. On May 18, 2022, Russell placed $3,500 outside of her medical office in a drop box as half of the payment. She agreed to pay the other half once the murder took place.” The complaint alleges Russell wanted the death to appear like a suicide. Investigators noted that she asked the FBI agent to “hold Crabtree hostage and force him to text her an apologetic suicide note before being killed.” The FBI said the agent eventually told Russell they would “use Crabtree’s face after his death to unlock his phone” and then send the text Russell provided. The complaint adds that “Russell informed [the agent] she had been vocal about her hate towards Crabtree to a lot of people and worried she would look guilty, which is why she requested the suicide note.”
The FBI agent said Russell was “explicit” and that she wanted her ex-husband dead and stopped using “coded language.”
Russell was arrested on May 19, 2022, but all of these details only recently emerged.
Russell pleaded not guilty. The defense claims that Russell is not sane and therefore not legally culpable.
Bail was denied by the presiding judge who noted that Russel remained a danger to Crabtree.
Her lawyers said that they lawyers “submitted the text messages to show their client seriously believed her ex-husband was a danger to her children and that she lacked the mental capacity to be convicted of murder-for-hire.”
“Ms. Russell’s mental health was severely disturbed, from both the empirical and clinical perspectives, when she engaged in the conduct alleged in the indictment,” the motion reads. “In March 2022, Ms. Russell reached out to self-described spiritualists for help, asking (with all credulity) for a ‘death spell’ on her ex-husband.”
Russell’s trial is set to begin later this month on April 22 in Louisville.
Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky said in a statement, “If convicted at trial, she faces a maximum term of up to 10 years in federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.”
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