Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
- A Salt Lake man, Orane James Spence, was arrested for alleged murder solicitation.
- Spence allegedly planned pay $10,000 to have his ex-wife and her mother killed.
- FBI agents uncovered the plot via WhatsApp; police found cash and a broken device.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man was arrested Friday after police say he attempted to arrange the killing of his recently divorced wife and her mother.
Orane James Spence, 33, was booked into the Salt Lake County jail for investigation of criminal solicitation, a first-degree felony, after FBI agents notified Unified Police that he planned to arrange for the killing of the two women, according to a police booking affidavit.
The FBI was initially contacted Tuesday about the arranged killing and listened to a recorded conversation with an individual Spence spoke with on WhatsApp, saying Spence wanted the killing to "look like a drug deal or robbery gone wrong" and mentioned using a "silencer or small-caliber weapon," the affidavit states.
The affidavit adds that Spence and the individual agreed to a $6,000 payment up front and an additional $4,000 after the crime was committed and told the individual, "with her out of the way, life would be better."
Though Spence only wanted his ex-wife killed, he later decided to have both the woman and her mother killed. Spence told the individual the women would be dropping off children at a specific date and time in a red Toyota RAV4, as stated in the affidavit.
Police executed a search warrant of Spence's apartment and found the device he allegedly used to communicate with the individual on WhatsApp "in pieces," along with several thousand dollars in cash, the affidavit said.
Detectives notified one of the alleged victims, who was planning to meet Spence after he claimed "he had something to give her," according to the affidavit.
