Houston couple, Valerie McDaniel and and Leon Jacob, ‘paid undercover cop posing as a hit man $20,000 to murder their ex-spouses’
Valerie McDaniel, 38, and Leon Jacob, 39, are accused of soliciting murder
The couple from Houston, Texas, allegedly paid a would be assassin $20,000 to kill their ex-spouses
Cops say McDaniel, a Houston area veterinarian told the ‘hitman’ she wanted him to ‘take care’ of her ex-husband
The hit man was in fact an undercover Houston cop, who then told the intended victims about the plot
They played along, posing for pictures pretending to be dead to send to McDaniel and Jacob
Jacob is facing stalking charges filed by his former girlfriend
McDaniel and Jacob were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, Monday
Suspects in failed double homicide plot, Leon Jacob [Left], and Valerie McDaniel
A Houston couple has been charged with conspiracy to murder after allegedly paying an undercover police officer $20,000 to murder their ex-partners.
Veterinarian Valerie McDaniel, 38, and hospital worker Leon Jacob, 39, hired the man to ‘take care’ of her ex-husband and his ex-girlfriend, prosecutors allege.
Houston Police Department even staged the murders with the intended victims’ help to see if the pair would pay for them.
The former partners, who have not been named, posed for photographs pretending to be dead and they were sent to the suspects as proof of their murders.
Leon Jacob and his girlfriend Valerie McDaniel, a veterinarian, allegedly bought a double hit on their ex-spouses
A Houston based veterinarian, Valerie McDaniel and hospital worker partner, Leon Jacob allegedly tried to hire a hit man to murder their ex-partners.
Jacob’s ex-wife pretended to have been kidnapped, gagged and murdered while McDaniel’s ex-husband posed as though he’d been shot in a carjacking.
The Click 2 Houston reports that the couple were arrested afterwards when they handed over $20,000 cash and offered to also pay with two Cartier watches.
McDaniel is a veterinarian and has an eight-year-old daughter. It is not clear why she wanted her former partner dead but prosecutors say she asked the hit man to ‘take care’ of him.
A spokesperson for the Harris County DA’s Office, Dane Schiller said the targets were notified that there was an alleged plot to kill them. They collaborated with the cops to pose for photos portraying realistic crime scenes to convince McDaniel and Jacob that the two had been killed.
Investigators said McDaniel offered to pay $10,000 to have her ex-husband killed.
Jacob allegedly wanted his former partner killed to stop her from testifying against him in court where he was already facing stalking charges filed by her before their break-up.
She said he assaulted her in January and continued to contact her until he was eventually arrested on February 6.
McDaniel [Left] and Jacob allegedly paid $20,000 for the double hit – McDaniel told the hitman she wanted him to ‘take care’ of her ex-husband
Before returning to court, he solicited an associate to help him find a hit man. That associate who happened to be a confidential informant, told is handlers. Police asked him to arrange a meeting.
They met in an Olive Garden restaurant by the side of the speedway to plot the killing.
McDaniel attended it too to ask the man if he would also kill her ex-husband. During the meeting with the would be assassin, McDaniel said she wanted him to ‘take care’ of her ex-husband
After the meeting, crime experts made contact with the intended victims to arrange the staged photographs.
‘The photos were created by seasoned crime-scene veterans to use as proof that the contract had been fulfilled. The first victim supposedly, was murdered in a car jacking gone bad and the second kidnapped, tied up and ready for execution,’ Schiller said.
McDaniel and Jacob arraigned Monday, charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Neither of the intended victims has spoken publicly of the attempts on their lives.
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