A man allegedly texted “kill my wife” in a text to the wrong person when he wanted the woman murdered.
A Washington man attempted to run a life insurance scam by hiring a hitman to kill his wife but ended up texting the information to the wrong person. The 42 year old father allegedly attempted to text the killer, but sent the message to his former boss, instead.
Upon receiving the more-than-concerning text, the ex-boss proceeded to call the police to investigate.
The man, Jeff Lytle, was arrested on two counts of criminal solicitation for first-degree murder. His motivation was to compete a life insurance scam that would allow him to receive a payment on his wife’s policy. The man remains in custody. His bail was set at $1 million. At the time of the writing of this article, he had yet to enter a plea for the charges against him.
According to a report on the subject in PEOPLE magazine’s online edition, the defendant’s former employer was “disturbed” when he received the text. He contacted the Snowhomish County Sheriff’s Office to investigate.
The life insurance scam message was addressed to a hitman named “Shayne,” confirming the intention for murder.
The message allegedly explained that Lytle was willing to split the life insurance payout – $1.5 million – with the killer. The affidavit also indicated that the murder may also have included their 4-year old daughter.
The affidavit quoted Lytle’s text as saying “You remember you said that you would help me kill my wife … I’m going to take you up on that offer.” The former boss received a text that also pointed out that the life insurance policy on Lytle’s wife “is worth 1 million and if you want a bonus you can kill . Her life insurance is 500K.”
The instructions went on to tell “Shayne” to cover the murder by making it “look like a robbery gone wrong or make it a accident.” He went on to include the wife’s work location, and schedule, as well as Lytle’s own work location and schedule. Lytle is accused of ending his text by saying “I’ll split everything with the insurance 50/50,” which clearly makes this a life insurance scam case as well.
