A Jacksonville mother is accused of trying to hire a hit man to murder her husband.
Police say Crystal Ely offered an undercover officer money and jewelry in exchange for killing her husband. She gave the hit man a detailed diagram of the interior of his place of business, the report said.
The suspect the remains behind bars at the Duval County Jail after police say they stopped her plan to kill her husband. Ely, a mother of three, is accused of trying to get rid of her husband in a murder-for-hire plot.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office began investigating the 29-year-old after receiving a tip. A police report says that she met with the undercover officer several times in September and offered money, a pair of earrings and two rings as payment.
According to the report, Ely unknowingly met with an undercover JSO officer four times and reiterated her desire to have the officer kill her husband in exchange for money.
The report added that she provided the undercover officer with a picture of her husband, a diagram of the inside of the business she and her husband worked at and instead of money she initially mentioned, she gave him a pair of earrings and two rings as payment.
Each meeting was recorded in its entirety, police stated in the report. She was arrested at the fourth meeting on Sept. 13 after giving the officer the jewelry -- and a picture of her husband.
Ely faces two capital felony crimes: criminal conspiracy and criminal solicitation.
Lynn Harnage, who lived across the street from the family for several years, says she is blown away by the allegations.
“It’s sad that she had to go this extreme,” Harnage said. “I don’t know what’s happened since I’ve seen her.”
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