MUSKEGON (WWJ-AP) –A west Michigan woman has pled guilty to solicitation to commit murder after being arrested by an undercover detective whom she unwittingly hired to take out her husband. Back in April, 21-year-old Julia Merfeld, attempted to hire a hit man for $50,000 to whack her 27-year-old husband because she felt that it would be quick and painless.
A hidden camera captured Merfeld telling the would be hit man that killing her husband would be “easier than divorcing” him.
“When I first decided to do this, it’s not that we weren’t getting along. I mean, I was just, it was easier than, as terrible as it sounds, it was easier than divorcing him. You know, I didn’t have to worry about the judgment of my family, I didn’t have to worry about breaking his heart, all that stuff like this. It’s, like, how I got a clean getaway,” she said.
What Merfeld didn’t realize was that the “hit man” was in fact an undercover detective tipped off by one of her co-workers whom she initially approached to get the job done.
According to Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler, Merfeld’s apparent motive was “one of the oldest motives known to man: Greed. She wanted a life insurance payout.”�� Her husband’s life insurance policy was apparently worth $400,000.
Merfeld will be sentenced July 30, giving her plenty of time to finesse her match.com profile.