Smiling wife tries to hire hit man because killing him would be easier than divorcing him

Publish date: 2024-10-25

MUSKEGON, Mich. — An investigation into a 20-year-old West Michigan woman who later pleaded guilty to soliciting the murder of her 27-year-old husband included videotaped meetings with an undercover police detective.

On the video, Julia Charlene Merfeld of Muskegon is heard telling the detective posing as a hit man that the killing would be “easier than divorcing him.” Merfeld said that if he was killed she wouldn’t have to worry about her family’s judgment or “breaking his heart.”

Two videos made in April were released to The Muskegon Chronicle by prosecutors.

Merfeld pleaded guilty last month to soliciting a murder. She’s jailed ahead of sentencing July 30 and is expected to face prison time.

Authorities say she wanted her husband’s $400,000 life insurance policy, and promised to pay $50,000 for the killing.

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