Two would-be killers wanted to castrate and strangle teen sensation Justin Bieber, in a sinister plot that was supposed to go down in New York, officials said today.

Mark Staake, 41, and his nephew Tanner Ruane, 23, were arrested yesterday in Vermont.

The plot's mastermind was allegedly 45-year-old Dana Martin, who is doing life for raping and killing a 15-year-old Vermont girl in October, 2000.

Martin met Staake behind bars in New Mexico -- and when Staake got out of prison, he recruited Ruane for the bloody scheme.

Staake and Ruane were picked up in Vermont at a Canadian border crossing. They were lost and looking for directions when cops ran Staake's information and found a warrant out for his arrest.

Martin had specific plans for the slaying, and demanded that Bieber be strangled with a paisley tie, his calling card, authorities told KRQE-TV in Albuquerque.

Martin is obsessed with Bieber and even has a tattoo of the teen superstar on his leg, the TV station said.

The planned gruesome attack was supposed to happen when Bieber was playing Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28-29.

Cops recorded phone calls from Ruane, who was in New York, to Martin, allegedly telling the ringleader his plot was never carried out.

Remarkably, Martin was the one who actually turned in Staake and Ruane, officials

Source:  New York Post