Sounds like a plot for some crappy B movie, right? Wrong. Justin Bieber might have more money than sense, and he's no doubt the envy of thousands with America's sweetheart Selena Gomez on his arm, but that level of fame comes at one hell of a price. The Beauty and a Beat singer recently found himself on the receiving end of not just a few hate mails but kidnapping, castration and murder threats. Although at first this sounded to us like a hoax, it appears to be very true and very serious. As for who's behind the murder plot? A team of former prisoners, apparently.

As per KRQE News 13, investigators have said that after one of his Madison Square Garden gigs, former convicts Mark Staake and nephew Tanner Ruane had planned to kidnap Justin and his bodyguard with the help of convicted killer Dana Martin... It's been reported that she recruited the pair of thugs to carry out four murders when they finally got out (good to know some people come out of prison with a new take on life, right?) but she had a particular thing for Bieber. So obsessed with the Canadian popstar was Martin, she even had a tattoo of him on her leg. Upon capturing Bieber and his bodyguard, the plan was then, so we're lead to believe, to castrate and murder him.

Thankfully for Biebs, police eventually caught on to their act, gaining access to their phone lines where they overheard Ruane telling Martin that the plot had not gone ahead. The two former prisoners were then arrested again, when Ruane was found with murder equipment on his person while Martin remains in jail.

Scary stuff indeed, we do hope he's out of harms way now.