COUNTYWIDE : 3 Plead Not Guilty in Murder-for-Hire Case

Three men charged in a murder-for-hire plot that allegedly was arranged by a Tustin businessman pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

The three defendants, Blake Tek Yoon, 27, of San Rafael, John Caravaggio, 28, of Morristown, N.J., and Scott Douglas Smith, 23, of Denville, N.J., were denied bail and remained in federal custody.

A federal indictment charged that the three men and Julius F. Schill, 57, the owner of a Tustin-based vending machine company, along with Richard Dota, 55, of Las Vegas, conspired to commit murder for hire in connection with the Oct. 11 beating and shooting of Wilbur Constable, 25, of Mission Viejo.

Yoon, Caravaggio and Smith also were charged with using a firearm during a violent crime. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison.

Constable, who said he was lured to a parking lot in Irvine and beaten with baseball bats by three men, then shot in the head, survived the attack.

Federal authorities allege that Schill paid Dota $42,000 to arrange Constable’s murder so Schill could pursue an unsolicited romance with the victim’s fiancee, a secretary in the businessman’s office. Dota, according to federal authorities, in turn hired Yoon, the alleged triggerman, Caravaggio and Smith.

Trial for Yoon, Caravaggio and Smith is scheduled for March 10 in federal court in Santa Ana.

Schill and Dota, who have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder for hire, also face a March 10 trial date.