Florida woman gets 20 years for trying to hire hit man to kill ex
BRADENTON, Fla. — A Florida woman has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for trying to hire someone to kill her ex-husband.
The Bradenton Herald reports that 35-year-old Rachael Leahy was sentenced Monday. She pleaded no contest last month to criminal solicitation to commit murder.
Authorities say Leahy spoke with undercover deputy who she believed was a hit man in August 2016. She told the detective her ex-husband could be kidnapped and taken to another country and made into a sex slave. She also suggested he could die in an apparent accident, like fire or drowning.
In one video from the meetings, Leahy allegedly said that she saw no other way to work out the custody battle with her ex than to have him killed.
“The only thing that matters is I don’t get to see my children,” she said, according to the Bradenton Herald. “There’s no other resolution to this other than him to be gone completely.”
Officials say Leahy wanted her ex-husband gone so she could have custody of their children. She told the detective she could pay him $5,000 after collecting on her ex-husband’s life insurance policy.
During her court appearance Monday, Leahy said she tried hiring a hitman because she was desperate to get her kids back.
“I will have to live the rest of my life with all the things that I’ve done. I’ve let everyone down,” she said, according to WFLA. “I did a terrible thing to bring my babies back to me. Looking back at what I did, I truly believe I was out of my mind.”