Prosecutors laid out their evidence Monday in a murder-for-hire case in the town of Plainfield.
Pauline Chase, 83, and her son Maurice Temple, 63, are charged with plotting to pay another man, Mark Horne, to kill Temple's ex-wife.
Horne has had a long, sometimes contentious, relationship with Chase. In the late 1990s, Chase agreed to sell property to Horne but later tried to back out of the agreement, according to court records. The resulting dispute played out in court for years, and Horne said he is still making payments to Chase for the property.
As part of the murder-for-hire investigation, Horne recorded telephone calls with Chase and video of visits to her house. In the footage, both Chase and Temple question whether Horne is wearing a wire-tap.
Reached Tuesday by phone, Horne said it was a hard decision to go to police in this case. “In my heart of hearts, it was the right thing to do," he said.
At the hearing Monday, Temple's defense attorney argued that it was his mother, Pauline Chase, who was the active participant in the alleged plot, and that Temple was set up by law enforcement. Proceedings will continue on Thursday.
