Steve Stout, newsroom@mywebtimes.com,
An Ottawa woman who was arrested June 3 in an alleged murder-for-hire plot appeared in a brief status hearing Thursday in La Salle County court.
Christina D. Dent allegedly paid an undercover detective posing as a hit man a down payment on a $7,000 "contract" to kill her husband. The 28-year-old mother of two is in La Salle County jail under a $500,000 bond. She needs $50,000 to be released.
At the hearing, her attorney, Public Defender Tim Cappellini, said he expects to file a motion next week that would ask the court for a mental examination of Dent to address the question of her sanity at the time of the arrest. A hearing was scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 20.
Dent and her husband had been in contentious divorce proceedings last winter after being married less than two years. According to reports, tips from Dent's own acquaintances led police investigators to bring in an undercover officer.
Dent's trial date had been set for Thursday, Aug. 24.
###
Posts
