Superstar pop singer Justin Bieber was the target of a bizarre plan hatched by a imprisoned, Bieber-obsessed murderer who allegedly dispatched two New Mexico men to kill and castrate the teen hearthrob at his recent Madison Square Garden show, it was revealed tonight.
One of those men, 23-year-old Tanner Ruane, was busted in upstate New York on Nov. 20 — allegedly with pruning shears that were to be used to cut-off the “Baby, Baby, Baby” burbler Bieber’s manhood, according to a news account.
Ruane and his ex-con uncle Mark Staarke, 41, were supposed to strangle Bieber, 18, and his bodyguard at the singer’s late November show at the Garden with a paisley tie — and then castrate them both there.
“We take every precaution to protect and insure the safety of Justin and his fans,” Bieber’s management team said in a prepared statement tonight, refusing to comment further.
The sickening scheme supposedly was set in motion by convicted murderer Dana Martin, 45, who is serving a life sentence for the 2000 rape and murder of a 15-year-old Vermont girl named DeAndra Fiorucci — whom he strangled with a paisley tie.
Martin is doing his time in a Las Cruces, N.M. prison as part of an inter-state agreement dealing with housing inmates.
It was in that prison that Martin — who has a tattoo of Bieber on his leg — met Staake.
Martin allegedly enlisted Staake to commit four murders when Staake was released last month — two people in Vermont, as well as Bieber and his bodyguard in New York, KRQE-13 TV reported.
Staake then allegedly recruited Martin for the shocking scheme, and they traveled to Vermont last month.
It was in Vermont, on Nov. 19, that both men were busted by immigration and customs enforcement agents there six miles away from the Canadian border — after being tipped off by authorities in New Mexico.
And those New Mexico authorities had in turn been tipped off by Martin himself, according to an Associated Press report.
Staake was charged with violating his probation for burglar — but Ruane was released.
A day later, he was busted at a gas station in Rotterdam, NY, by New York State Police — who had been alerted to Ruane’s alleged role in the murder conspiracy by New Mexico State Police.
“Troopers recovered tools and documents associated with the conspiracy while executing a search on Ruane’s 1983 BMW,” New York State Police said. “The documents included the identities of the intended victims, their family members and their whereabouts.”
Kristin Cashman — who is both Ruane’s mom and Staake’s sister — strongly denied that either man was set on de-balling the Beebs, much less killing him.
“This Justin Bieber thing, it’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,” Cashman said. “My son was not planning to kidnap or hurt anyone. He has nothing to do with any of this. ”
“This has got to be some crazy thing Dana Martin made up. Everything about it is made up,” she said.
She said Staake, who has a string of prior arrests for armed robbery, theft and assault, met Martin in prison in New Mexico.
“I remember him saying that Dana had a Justin Bieber tattoo, and Mark was laughing about it,” Cashman recalled. “But kill Justin Bieber? No. No way.”
She said that she’s recently talked to her jailed brother.
“He thinks the whole thing is just blown out of proportion,” she said.
She hasn’t talked to Ruane since Nov. 9, and doesn’t know where he is. “I haven’t been able to talk to him, to get in contact with him,” she said. Authorities said he is in jail in Schenectady, NY.
Said she first learned of it the day of Staake’ arrest from local news.
According to her, Ruane had gone with his uncle to pick up a car in Vermont.
“They said the car they were driving was registered to Tanner, but that’s not his car. Tanner has a car, but it’s not running. It’s here,” she said.
dan.mangan@nypost.com