Grandchildren Target of Hitman for Hire Plot

Grandchildren Target of Hitman for Hire Plot

TAVARES, FL (AP) -- A couple were being held without bond after they tried to hire a hit man to kill their three grandchildren and daughter-in-law to stop them from testifying against their son in his rape trial, authorities said.

The couple, ages 60 and 59, were charged with four counts each of criminal conspiracy to commit murder. They had offered an initial $100 payment to an undercover sheriff's deputy Tuesday to kill their son's wife, their 10-year-old granddaughter, two step-grandchildren, ages 14 and 16, and the family dog, Checkers.
An unspecified amount of money was promised after the killings, said Lake County sheriff's Sgt. Christie Mysinger.

The couple's 31-year-old son has been jailed since November on 22 charges of sexual battery on a child, lewd and lascivious molestation and showing obscene material to a minor, court records show.

Detectives say his daughter and stepdaughter are the victims. In one case, court records say he drugged the girl.

The man tried to solicit a fellow jail inmate to kill his family, the arrest report said.

An informant told detectives about the plot and they made arrangements to meet the man's parents Tuesday at a Best Western motel in Tavares, a lakefront community about 30 miles northwest of
Orlando.

"(The deputy) said, 'You want me to kill everyone, including the dog?' They agreed," Mysinger said.

The Associated Press will not release the names of the family members to protect the children's identities.

Their son's wife told the Orlando Sentinel Wednesday she feared her husband, but still wants her daughters to testify in the rape
case. No one answered the phone Thursday at the home the entire family shared.

"I believed he was capable of killing us," she said. "I'm just going to keep on going. I don't know what else to do ... I can't collapse. I'm a mother."

Detectives videotaped the couple paying a detective to kill the family members. Mysinger said couple's son has not yet been charged
in the murder-for-hire case.

"We're not in a big hurry to add charges on him," Mysinger said. "He's not going anywhere. Time is on our side right now."

A judge ordered all three held without bond in isolation from the rest of the jail population, Mysinger said. They are allowed contact only with lawyers.

The son's attorney, Peter Sartes, said he had no details on the parent's arrest. It is not clear who was representing his parents.

"However you look at it, it's a very unfortunate incident," Sartes said Thursday. "It's probably going to have a negative impact on my client. But I really don't know more than that."