Ex-CEO’s Conspiracy Trial to Open Today

Hans Frederick Johnston, who once controlled electronics manufacturer Statek Corp. in Orange and stands accused of allegedly plotting to kill five people, is expected to go to trial today in a London court.

Last week, Johnston pleaded not guilty to the murder conspiracy charges, and guilty to two counts of using fake identification.

Johnston was arrested in April 1998 by London police. He is charged with conspiring to kill three American attorneys and two Swiss citizens, including his former partner at Statek.

The case is rooted in a convoluted, decade-long dispute between Johnston, 72, and Swiss engineer Miklos Vendel, 58. After losing control of Statek to Vendel in 1996, Johnston allegedly went to London to seek an assassin to kill his former business partner.

But according to British prosecutors, Johnston feared that the would-be killers eventually would harm him. So he wrote out his plan to kill Vendel and gave the letter to an acquaintance, with instructions to hand it over to authorities if something happened to him, prosecutors say.

If found guilty, Johnston could serve a minimum of 10 years in British prison. He has been held without bail since his arrest.

Neither Vendel, Johnston’s criminal attorneys in England, nor the barristers for the Crown Prosecution Service could be reached for comment.