San Diego : Mother, Daughter Deny Plots to Kill Their Husbands

A mother and daughter pleaded innocent Monday to charges that each tried to hire a hit man to kill her husband in schemes that prosecutors say each undertook without the other’s knowledge.

San Diego Municipal Judge Nicholas Kasimatis set bail at $50,000 for Judith Lynette East, 45, of Paradise Hills, and at $30,000 for her daughter, Venise Lynette Morris, 27, of La Mesa. Bail had been set at $25,000 for each when they were booked into jail Friday.

“They apparently were not working together in the solicitation for murder,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Eichler said.

Police say investigators heard that both women were looking for a hit man to kill their estranged husbands, so an undercover officer telephoned each separately. After identifying himself as a hired killer, he set up meetings with each of them in outdoor public places in San Diego.

East allegedly offered the officer $10,000 to kill her husband, saying she would pay for it from her husband’s insurance policy, which was worth about $100,000, and Morris gave the officer a $1,000 personal check as a down payment on a $5,000 fee to kill her husband, Eichler told the judge.

“Ms. East undertook the active solicitation of a hit man, and her intent is very clear from the tape” of her meeting with the officer, Eichler said.

“Miss Morris’ husband was accused of molesting her young daughter, which was the alleged motive in that case,” Eichler said. “It’s very clear . . . that both defendants together fabricated evidence in that (molestation) case.

“We’re still investigating, and there’s a good chance we’ll be filing a charge of conspiracy to commit murder (against each), which carries a substantially higher penalty.”

The solicitation charge carries a maximum prison term of six years, whereas a conspiracy charge could mean life in prison.

After appointing attorneys for each woman, Kasimatis scheduled a Thursday bail review for both and a preliminary hearing Oct. 3.