Video: Woman caught on camera telling ‘hitman’ she wanted husband dead as its ‘easier than divorcing him’

Julia Charlene Merfeld also said she didn’t want to deal with breaking her husband’s heart by separating

In the clip Julia Charlene Merfeld, of Michigan in the United States, calmly tells the detective that the “hit” must happen on a Thursday and couldn’t take place at the couple’s family home as it would be too messy.

A woman has been caught on video telling a police officer posing as a hitman that she wanted her husband dead because it was easier than divorcing him.

In the clip Julia Charlene Merfeld, of Michigan in the United States, calmly tells the detective that the “hit” must happen on a Thursday and couldn’t take place at the couple’s family home as it would be too messy.

When the 20-year-old was asked why she wanted her husband killed, she told the detective that it would mean she wouldn’t have to worry about “breaking his heart”, or any negative family reaction to their separation.

Describing the deteriorating relationship with her 27-year-old spouse, Merfeld says: “When I first decided to do this … it’s not that we weren’t getting along… But terrible as it sounds, it was easier than divorcing him”.

Occasionally laughing, she adds: “You know, I didn’t have to worry about the judgement 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.”

Police believe one of the driving factors in Merfeld’s decision to hire a hitman was a desire to claim her husband’s $400,000 life insurance. She had promised to pay the hitman $50,000 to commit the murder.

Merfeld pleaded guilty to soliciting murder last month and is due to be sentenced on July 30. She is expected to go to prison, despite her husband’s request that she is not jailed for the crime.