A US Army sergeant has been charged in connection with an alleged murder-for-hire hatched when his older brother was serving time in a Connecticut state prison. Sgt. Jeremiah Peikert, 30, and Joshua Peikert, 32, have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit risk of injury to minors, ABC News reports. Prosecutors say that in 2022, Joshua Peikert asked his cellmate at the Corrigan Correctional Center to find a hitman to kill a 29-year-old woman, her two daughters, ages 10 and 1, and her 23-year-old boyfriend, reports the New York Post. The woman is Joshua Peikert's ex-girlfriend, NBC Connecticut reports.
According to court documents, Joshua Peikert's cellmate asked for a $500 "finder's fee"—$250 up front and $250 when the targets were dead—in return for finding somebody who would kill the four people for $10,000 a head. Court documents state that Joshua Peikert gave his cellmate the address of the people he wanted dead, along with details including the location of a spare key. But instead of finding a hit man, the cellmate wrote to the woman and told her about the plot, according to court documents. She contacted police. "At no time did I have any intention of hiring a hitman or committing any violence," the cellmate told investigators.
Prosecutors said Jeremiah Peikert, who was stationed in Texas at the time, transferred $250 to the cellmate. According to court documents, Jeremiah Peikert told investigators his brother had asked him to transfer the money to pay for "construction," but he knew it was part of a scheme to hurt the woman, NBC Connecticut reports. He said he didn't know "the kids were planned to be involved in this scheme," court documents state. He said his brother "has displayed violent tendencies, even growing up. He is also manipulative, especially with me, which played a role in me cooperating." (More murder plot stories.)
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