Is This Entrapment? Woman arrested for trying to hire hitman to kill husband

[BlackTerrel]

Edit: Entrapment


Haven't seen this posted here before. Case reminds me of some of the terrorism cases we've had over the last few years which many posters said was entrapment and not a real threat.

Were the cops right to charge this woman?

Alternatively - what should the authorities have done in this case?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2358842/Michigan-mother-Julia-Merfeld-tried-hire-hit-man-kill-husband-easier-divorce.html


Julia Merfeld, a 21-year-old married mother of two from Michigan, did not want to break her husband’s heart by divorcing him – so she decided to have him killed instead, according to investigators.

Merfeld has pleaded guilty to soliciting the murder of her 27-year-old husband following an investigation that included videotaped meetings with an undercover police detective posing as a hit man.

On the video, the Muskegon resident is heard telling the undercover officer that the killing would be ‘easier than divorcing him.’

Merfeld said that she and her husband had been fighting, and that she had been thinking about having him killed for a while because if he was dead, she wouldn’t have to worry about her family’s judgment or ‘breaking his heart.’

Two videos made in April were released to The Muskegon Chronicle by prosecutors.

The 21-year-old woman pleaded guilty June 27 to soliciting a murder. She’s jailed ahead of sentencing July 30 and is expected to face up to a life in prison.

Authorities say she wanted her husband’s $400,000 life insurance policy, and promised to pay the would-be hit man $50,000 for the killing in several $9,000 installments.

Police became aware of Mrs Merfeld's plot to have her husband killed when they were tipped off by her co-worker, Carlos Ramos.

According to Ramos, the 21-year-old woman offered him $50,000 for the hit, but he called police and helped set up a meeting between Merfeld and an undercover detective posing as a prospective assassin.

The woman and the man she thought to be a gun-for-hire met on April 9 and 10 in his car. Unbeknownst to Merfeld, both meetings were recorded on a hidden camera.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix-hNxr9yp4

[dannno]

In what universe is this anywhere near the same situation?

[Anti Federalist]

Police became aware of Mrs Merfeld's plot to have her husband killed when they were tipped off by her co-worker, Carlos Ramos.

According to Ramos, the 21-year-old woman offered him $50,000 for the hit, but he called police and helped set up a meeting between Merfeld and an undercover detective posing as a prospective assassin.

Based on this, I would say no.

Entrapment is enticing someone to commit an illegal act, that not normally would have been inclined to do so, then providing the means to do so.

The fact that the wife approached a non-cop with a murder solicitation, prior to the cops getting tipped off, pretty clearly shows premeditated intent.

[CPUd]

It's not entrapment, since she went to the co-worker first, and presumably sought out the UC who she paid money to and explained with enough detail what she wanted done for that money. The prosecutor would have instructed the UC beforehand how to steer clear of entrapment, and get what they needed for the charge.


There are a lot of similar cases out there- it is usually a friend or acquaintance who goes to the cops. I don't agree with tnem charging for solicitation of murder though. They could have locked her in the drunk tank for a couple days while they told the husband what was going on, and give him time to GTFO.

[paulbot24]

Merfeld said that she and her husband had been fighting, and that she had been thinking about having him killed for a while because if he was dead, she wouldn’t have to worry about her family’s judgment or ‘breaking his heart.’

WTF? And this woman actually reproduced twice? Let's hope that batshit reasoning is stuck on a recessive gene.