Man hires three ‘hitmen’ to kill his sister’s ex-husband because he won custody of the kids and refused to take $1 million to let the kids move in with the mother
A man is accused of plotting to kill his sister’s ex-husband and hiring three inexperienced men to carry out the plan. The alleged motive behind his actions is because his sister’s ex-husband won custody of their children and also refused to take $1 million to allow the children to move in with the mother.
The people who were hired to carry out the murder have already been sentenced to prison, while the trial of the mastermind of this case, Charlie, is currently underway.
On July 18, 2014, police received a report of a shooting at the home of a law professor. The victim, later identified as Daniel, was found in his car with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. He succumbed to his injuries at a nearby hospital.
The complexities of the case began to emerge when it was revealed that Daniel was embroiled in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife, Wendy. The dispute attracted Wendy’s brother, Charlie, and their parents.
As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered disturbing details. Charlie reportedly did not get along with Daniel, and there were claims that he considered hiring a hitman to kill Daniel in the summer before the murder. Wendy herself admitted to the police that Charlie had joked about such a scenario.
When surveillance footage revealed that a Prius, later connected to Charlie’s ex-girlfriend Catherine, was following Daniel on the day of the murder, the plot became more complicated. Court documents showed that Catherine recruited the father of her children, Sigfredo, to carry out the murder. Sigfredo, in turn, approached another man named Louis to help him.
After extensive investigations, authorities eventually began to piece the puzzle together. In May 2016, Sigfredo was arrested for first-degree murder, and he and Luis were charged for their roles in Daniel’s death. Catherine was arrested in October of the same year. While Luis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, Sigfredo and Catherine faced trials that led to their convictions for first-degree murder, among other charges. Louis is sentenced to 19 years in prison, while Sigfredo and Catherine serve life sentences. Eight years after the tragic incident, Charlie was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. His trial, originally scheduled for February 2023, was postponed until October. As the trial unfolds, Catherine, Sigfredo, and Luis are expected to testify, shedding further light on the complex web of connections and planning that led to Daniel’s death.
