An October 20 civil court hearing brought Jack Avery, 27, and TikTok influencer Gabbie Gonzalez face to face in a Los Angeles courtroom for the first time since her May arrest. An unnamed ex-boyfriend testified that Gonzalez panicked after an FBI raid and wanted to flee the country. Her criminal defence lawyer challenged why Avery hadn’t previously sought a domestic violence restraining order. The criminal preliminary hearing remains scheduled for November 18, 2026.
The Civil Hearing and What Was Said
The October 20 session was a civil proceeding, related to custody arrangements, rather than a hearing in the criminal murder conspiracy case. But the two are deeply tangled, and testimony that surfaces in one naturally feeds into the public understanding of the other.
The ex-boyfriend’s testimony about Gonzalez wanting to leave the country after the FBI raid is one of those details. It doesn’t constitute criminal evidence in the murder-for-hire charges, but it sketches in the state of mind of someone who, according to prosecutors, had spent months working to have her daughter’s father killed.
During the hearing, Avery, now 27, at one point turned around and blew a kiss to a woman sitting in the front row who had accompanied him to court. His lawyer did not immediately respond to media requests for comment.
Gonzalez’s criminal defence attorney, Elliot Zarabi, raised a pointed challenge in a statement to Rolling Stone: he questioned why Avery had not sought a domestic violence restraining order against Gonzalez years earlier. It’s a defence strategy that appears aimed at complicating the narrative around their relationship history, though it doesn’t directly address the criminal allegations.
The Murder-for-Hire Allegations, Recapped
For readers following this case for the first time, it helps to step back to what prosecutors have alleged since May 2026.
As we covered in detail when all three defendants entered their not-guilty pleas in September, the criminal case centres on events from late 2020 through mid-2021. Prosecutors allege that Gonzalez “repeatedly discussed wanting Jack Avery dead” and enlisted her then-boyfriend Kai Faron Cordrey to act on it. Cordrey allegedly set up an account on a dark web murder-for-hire site using the alias “LizardKing69,” transferred money to a Gemini cryptocurrency account to fund the plot, and on May 22, 2021, identified Avery as the target, provided his Los Angeles address, and asked that the killing happen “by whatever method was easiest.”
The FBI deployed an undercover agent posing as a hitman. The money that moved, roughly $1,400 as a deposit against a quoted price of $9,000, was tracked. The case eventually produced the May 2026 arrests of Gonzalez, her father Francisco Gonzalez, 59, a Florida-based attorney, and Cordrey, 26.
All three are charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder. All three pleaded not guilty at the September 14 arraignment.
The Dark Web Aspect of the Case
The murder-for-hire site Cordrey used was a dark web platform, accessible only through software like Tor, that advertises contract killings. What cases like this consistently demonstrate is that these sites are almost universally fraudulent. Nobody on the other side is actually carrying out killings. The operators take the cryptocurrency and disappear or stall.
But the legal consequence for someone who sends payment to one of these platforms is real regardless. Attempting to hire a hitman, even from a site that has never and will never fulfil the order, constitutes a serious criminal offence under California law. The attempt itself is the crime. The $1,400 deposit Cordrey transferred isn’t just evidence of intent. It’s the trigger.
This same dynamic came up in the Rotterdam case we covered earlier this year, where a Dutch woman was arrested after using the same type of dark web hitman platform to target her ex-husband. That case resulted in prosecution even though no harm occurred. The parallel is almost exact: a custody dispute, a dark web hitman site, Bitcoin as payment, and an arrest long after the transfer cleared.
What the November 18 Hearing Will Determine
The next major stage in the criminal case is the preliminary hearing scheduled for November 18, 2026.
A preliminary hearing in California isn’t a trial. It’s the stage at which prosecutors must lay out enough evidence for a judge to find that the case should proceed toward trial, what the law calls probable cause. The bar is lower than a trial standard, but it requires prosecutors to show real evidence, not just allegations.
Deputy DA Alexander Bott has previously stated that the alleged conduct “escalated from family-court litigation and efforts to discredit Jack, to surveillance and attempted third-party intimidation, and ultimately to a funded murder-for-hire plot designed to remove Jack permanently.” That progression from legal maneuvering to funded criminal conspiracy , is exactly the narrative prosecutors will need to support with documentary evidence at November’s hearing.
Bitcoin transaction records, FBI undercover communications, and whatever digital evidence was recovered from devices will likely feature prominently. The cryptocurrency payment trail is one of the most reliable evidence types in dark web criminal prosecutions blockchain records don’t disappear, and the Gemini account through which the funds moved is a regulated exchange that would have cooperated with federal investigators.
Where Each Defendant Stands
Gabbie Gonzalez posted the $2 million bail set at her initial court appearance and is living under conditions that include a 100-yard no-contact order covering both Avery and their daughter. Her next formal criminal proceeding is November 18.
Francisco Gonzalez, her father, was initially held in Florida pending extradition. His status going into the November hearing is not confirmed in current reporting.
Kai Faron Cordrey, whose dark web activity and cryptocurrency transfers sit at the centre of the prosecution’s physical evidence, is also awaiting the November preliminary hearing. His cooperation, or lack of it, is one of the variables that will shape how the criminal case develops.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened at the October 20 hearing?
A civil custody-related court proceeding brought Avery and Gonzalez into the same courtroom for the first time since her May arrest. An ex-boyfriend of Gonzalez testified that she panicked after an FBI raid and wanted to leave the country.
Is this the criminal trial?
No. October 20 was a civil hearing related to custody. The criminal preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 18, 2026.
What charges does Gabbie Gonzalez face?
Attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder all of which carry potential sentences ranging from 25 years to life in California.
What is the November 18 hearing?
A preliminary hearing where prosecutors present foundational evidence and a judge determines whether enough exists to proceed toward a criminal trial.
