By Deirdre Reilly, LifeZette:
File this one under evil and stupid: A man from Monroe, Washington, allegedly sent a text meant for a hitman to the wrong person.
Jeff Lytle was arrested last week on two counts of criminal solicitation, according to People Magazine. The 42-year-old was allegedly trying to text a hitman with instructions to kill his wife and young daughter — but instead texted his ex-boss, who promptly contacted police.
“It is amazing how dumb some criminals are,” a New York City police officer told LifeZette. “Imagine sending something so incriminating via text? It’s part of their feeling of invincibility — they think they’re smarter and slicker than everyone else. It is a criminal’s downfall more often than you think.”
The message, addressed to “Shayne,” allegedly indicated Lytle would be willing to evenly split a $1.5 million insurance payout he anticipated receiving after the deaths of his wife and four-year-old daughter, according to the affidavit.
The text seems to continue a previous conversation with the hitman. “You remember you said that you would help me kill my wife … I’m going to take you up on that offer,” Lytle is accused of writing, as Seattle news station KIRO reported.
The man added that his wife’s insurance policy “is worth 1 million and if you want a bonus you can kill [name withheld]. Her life insurance is 500K.”
The message urged the killer to make it “look like a robbery gone wrong or make it a accident.” The text also provided details on the wife’s work schedule at Wal-Mart, according to the Daily Mail’s report.
“I’ll split everything with the insurance 50/50,” the text supposedly concluded.
After initially denying that the text message came from his phone — Lytle came clean and admitted to writing the text. He said the message was his way of “venting” his anger at his wife, the affidavit alleges.
This criminal had an answer at the ready — albeit a none-too-convincing one: Lytle told police he knows no one named “Shayne,” and that the text in question was written months ago after a fight with his wife.
He told investigators he usually deletes these “cathartic” messages, as People reported, and even blamed his little daughter, saying she may have sent the message after discovering it in his “drafts” folder.
Lytle’s wife told police the couple had been married for seven years and that she was aware of no marital distress, according to the criminal complaint. She said the couple have been struggling financially — Lytle has been out of work.
“Fate intervened in this case,” said the New York City police officer. “Thank God this man was too dumb to do them harm. He doesn’t deserve a family — he deserves prison.”
Lytle remains in police custody on $1 million bail. Court records indicate he has yet to enter a plea to the charges he faces.
An arrest affidavit obtained by People alleges that after receiving the text on Feb. 7, Lytle’s former boss was “disturbed” and notified the Snowhomish County Sheriff’s Office in Washington State.
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