Aunt: Niece wanted someone to scare or kill husband

The aunt of Carlsbad woman accused in a failed murder-for-hire plot testified in a Vista courtroom Monday that her niece had once asked if she knew someone who would scare or kill her estranged husband.

The alleged conversation, perhaps a year or so before the niece’s husband was shot by a sniper, began when the niece, Diana Lovejoy, told her aunt how frightened she was of her husband, and that she suspected he was abusing their son.

“She said ‘Aunt Diana, do you know anyone who could do that, either scare him or kill him?’” Diana Clark said.

Clark’s testimony came on the second day of a preliminary hearing for Lovejoy and her gun instructor, Weldon McDavid. At the end of the hearing, Superior Court Judge Robert Kearney found that enough evidence existed to order the pair to face trial.

They have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and attempted murder in the attack on Lovejoy’s husband, which took place about 11 p.m. on Sept. 1 along a dark dirt road in Carlsbad. A suspicious call from a burner phone had lured the victim, Greg Mulvihill, to the area.

Attorneys for both defendants said there is no evidence of any agreement to kill Mulvihill.

Lovejoy and Mulvihill were in the middle of a contentious divorce and bitter custody battle. She met McDavid weeks before the shooting, while learning how to shoot a gun at a local gun range. He installed a security system in her home.

Police arrested the pair about a week after the shooting, after cell phone records and video surveillance led Carlsbad police first to Lovejoy, then to McDavid. Each remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail.

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In court Monday, an emotional Clark took the stand and recounted the alleged conversation with Lovejoy, an exchange she said had left her “shocked and taken aback.”

And beyond the moral and ethical concerns, Clark said, “I told her it was a remarkably dumb idea. She would never be able to get away with it.”

Clark’s testimony was unexpected; investigators first learned just last week of Lovejoy’s alleged conversation with Clark. It is unclear how they heard about it, and Clark initially denied that Lovejoy had mentioned wanting someone to scare or hurt husband.

But moments before court started Monday morning — and moments after denying the conversation had happened — Clark spoke to the prosecutor and admitted she had not been truthful.

“I couldn’t open my throat to say those words,” Clark said of the initial denial.

Also on Monday, Carlsbad police Detective Scott Stallman testified that while Lovejoy had initially denied any physical relationship with McDavid, she later told him they’d had “sexual relations” a couple of times.

Before testimony started on Monday, both defense attorneys challenged the legality of their clients’ statements to police after they were read their Miranda rights, and asked the statements be tossed out. Kearney denied the request.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT