A man thought he was texting a hitman to kill his Wife and 4-old daughter. The pair is alive today because the text went to the wrong person. Instead of the order going to the hitman, the Monroe, Washington man's text went to his ex-boss. According to police reports, Jeff Lytle was arrested and held on a $1 million bond for two counts of criminal solicitation for first-degree murder and domestic violence.
The former employer called 911 immediately after receiving the text message with information and instructions about carrying out the two murders.
Lytle told where his wife worked and the time she would be leaving. He instructed the potential killer to make the hit look like an accident. He also discussed how the hitman would be paid.
Apparently, the reason for the hit was to collect the wife's $1.5 million insurance payout which Lytle promised to evenly split with the killer. The hitman was told that if he wanted a bonus he could kill the daughter also because she has a $500,000 insurance policy.
Husband's admission
At first the 42-year-of husband denied sending the text about having his wife and daughter killed. He later admitted to sending the text. He explained that he did it just to vent because at the time he was angry with his wife.
Lytle said the text was written months ago after he and his wife had an argument. He further explained that he usually deletes his text messages, and his daughter must have sent the messages that might have been in his drafts folder.
Statement from Lytle's wife
Lytle’s wife of seven years told police she and her husband had no such argument, and she was not aware of anything going wrong in their marriage.
She did admit that they had financial problems because her husband was unemployed.
Nothing was revealed about what will happen when Lytle gets out of jail if he does. Will his wife be comfortable living with him again? Will she be leery of leaving him with their 4-year-old daughter? Even though no murder took place, the thought of the possibility must be weighing heavily on her mind.
