Jail report: Woman offered life insurance money, jewelry in attempted murder-for-hire

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HERRIMAN — A Herriman woman's murder-for-hire plot was foiled when the man she tried to include in the scheme alerted her ex-husband, who was one of the intended victims, according to a jail report filed in her arrest this week.

Linda Gillman, 69, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Tuesday for investigation of two first-degree felony counts of criminal solicitation. Unified police say Gillman contacted a man about arranging for the murder of her ex-husband and his new wife.

The man who Gillman contacted "did not want to carry out this plan," said Unified Police Lt. Brian Lohrke, and contacted her ex-husband, who reported the plot to police on Dec. 19.

Investigators contacted the man who had alerted Gillman's ex-husband and gave him a recording device, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report. The man then recorded his meetings with Gillman on Dec. 20 and again on Monday, during which time she is heard discussing a plot to have her ex-husband and his wife murdered, the report states.

"Linda provided the (informant) with a diamond ring as partial payment for the murder" during the Dec. 20 meet-up, according to the report.

During the Monday conversation, Gillman allegedly discusses a $25,000 payment in connection with the plot, which included $10,000 for the killing of her ex-husband's new wife.

"During this same meeting Linda talks about a natural death of (her ex-husband) vs. shooting both (him) and his new wife and making it look like a break-in that went wrong," the jail report states. "Linda gave the (informant) a code to text her after the murder is completed."

Gillman had allegedly given the informant a $7,000 diamond ring on Dec. 20 and later promised another $18,000, derived from life insurance proceeds following her husband's death, would be paid after the murder.

The man also told investigators that Gillman had first contacted him in October, at which time she allegedly gave him $5,000 and asked him to hire another person to kill her ex-husband.

"The (informant) stalled Linda for some time hoping it would go away," the jail report states. "(He) told Linda that (the) individual who would do this had been arrested on an unrelated case."

But Gillman told the man on Dec. 19 that she would find another person to carry out the plot if he was unable to do so, which prompted him to contact her ex-husband, according to the report.

"This event totally could have turned out a different way," Lohrke said. "We got the information beforehand (and) detectives worked very hard on getting the evidence they needed to get Ms. Gillman in handcuffs and over to the jail."

The informant is not being investigated for any potential charges, the lieutenant said.

Investigators say Gillman has denied knowing anything about a murder-for-hire plot involving her husband. A search warrant for her home was approved this week.

Gillman has been divorced twice in Utah, once in 1991 and again in 2010, state court records show. It wasn't clear Thursday which ex-husband she allegedly targeted. The intended victims live in Utah, Lohrke confirmed, though he declined to say specifically where within the state.

Gillman has no signficant prior criminal history in Utah, according to court records.

Contributing: Caitlin Burchill