From a Cop’s POV: The lady who was going to pick up her children did the right thing. It’s always recommended that when a woman is going to pick up or drop off their children during a divorce or custody battle, they take along a ride along. With having a ride along, it’s less likely that the mother of the children will face harm. In this case, it appears that protocol didn’t work.
This case is not rare or unusual. I have read of many cases where a child custody battle has led to a murder. I was involved in a couple cases that were similar, but only one ended in murder. A husband hired a hit man to kill his wife, which happened the day before the custody hearing. When she didn’t show, the father mistakenly thought the judge would award him full custody by the mother’s default of not showing. He thought wrong. The judge in this case ordered police to do a wellness check.
When she couldn’t be found or located, the judge put the case on hold and the mother’s sister and brother-in-law were named as interim foster parents. The case was then turned over to the State Police Investigation Team for follow-up. I was still a uniformed Trooper, but because we were low on manpower in that area, I was asked to aid in the investigation, which I gladly accepted. After conducting several interviews, I had a conversation with the lead Investigator and told him that I thought the husband had hired someone to kill his wife.
The lead Investigator told me that I either had to find the body, the suspect or some forensics that pointed to the husband. The family of the mother posted a $10,000 reward and Crime Stoppers also posted another $10,000 reward. We received an anonymous phone call from the shooter’s girlfriend telling the person who took the call that her boyfriend was the shooter. The person who took the call told the caller she needed her name if she was wanting to receive the reward. We always guarantee confidentiality.
After we compared cellphone numbers, it was obvious that the husband and the killer had numerous calls up to the day when the wife was killed. With that information, we were able to obtain a search warrant for both the shooter’s and husband’s home and car. In the shooter’s home, we found scraps of paper with the wife’s name and the husband’s phone number. We also found the gun used in the killing in the shooter’s car. That was another for an arrest.
It didn’t take long to get a confession from the shooter and just like most of these scumbags, he gave up the plan pretty quickly naming the husband that hired and paid him. I think he was paid $15,000 for the hit. We wired him up and sent him to meet with the husband to collect his money. The husband told the shooter he wouldn’t be able to give him all the money, but would hand him $2000 until he got the wife’s insurance money. Once the money exchanged hands, we arrested him.
The shooter was charged with malice murder, first degree murder, murder for hire, trespassing and illegal use if a firearm as a prior felon. He cut a deal with the prosecutor to testify and was given 15 years to life, plus a $25,000 fine. The husband pled guilty and got life w/o parole. There is no parole in PA when a person is convicted of a Class A felony. The shooter “may” get a shot at parole after serving his 15 years. If the family protests his being paroled, the Parole Board will usually abide by their wishes. After his parole is rejected, he will most likely have to wait 5 years before applying again. However, the Parole Board could go down to 2 years, but doubtful.
