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SALT LAKE CITY -- New details emerged Tuesday in an alleged "murder for hire" plot.
The details came out in a court hearing in the case of Jeffrey Mowen, accused of orchestrating a $10 million fraud scheme involving hundreds of classic cars.
That man was originally charged with running a Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors added new charges last fall, accusing him of trying to hire California skinheads to kill four witnesses scheduled to testify against him.
Prosecutors on Tuesday said Mowen tried to set up those murder attempts inside the Davis County Jail, where he's currently being held. They say Mowen dictated a letter by Morse code to arrange the plot through a fellow inmate, who was wearing a wire.
On Tuesday Mowen asked to be freed pending his trial. Magistrate Paul Warner rejected the request, calling him a "danger to the community" and a flight risk.
Mowen, 47, was arrested in April in Panama on charges of running a $10 million Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors say he used some of that money to buy luxury cars.
The judge also ruled against Mowen's request to stop U.S. Marshals from selling his collection of 207 cars.
In a nearly hour-long exchange with the judge, Mowen, handcuffed and dressed in a Davis County Jail jumpsuit, argued the cars might be worth more later if the court held off on the auction. But the judge said the cost to store the cars is more than $20,000 a month.
Money raised from the auction could go to victims if Mowen is convicted, or back to Mowen if he's found innocent.
The judge ruled the auction can go ahead and Mowen will have a chance to challenge the government's appraisal on a car-by-car basis.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
