MONTVILLE, Conn. — A man was arrested in Montville Monday for allegedly attempting to arrange the murders of four people, according to Connecticut State Police.
State police said that 31-year-old Joshua Peikert, an inmate of Corrigan Correctional Center in Montville, is facing charges of conspiracy to commit risk of injury to a child and conspiracy to commit murder.
According to a state police arrest warrant, Peikert was allegedly involved in a conspiracy to murder a 29-year-old woman, two girls aged one and 10 years old, and a 23-year-old man.
The connection between Peikert and the chosen victims is currently unknown. Despite the plot, no one was hurt, state police said.
The warrant says the woman contacted the Groton City Police Department after she received a letter detailing the potential "murder-for-hire" plot. She, along with her two children and her boyfriend, were listed as the intended targets.
The letter was determined to have originated from Peikert's former cellmate at Corrigan, who is currently an inmate at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, according to the warrant.
Peikert had allegedly hired his cellmate to find a "hitman" to murder the four people.
While the witness said in a written statement that he had "no intention of hiring a hitman or committing any violence" towards the chosen victims, he told state police that he asked for a "finder's fee" of $250 and was paid by Peikert's brother, Jeremiah. He also said that he wrote a letter to the woman out of concern "for her safety and the safety of her children."
According to the warrant, state police received a letter that Joshua Peikert gave to his cellmate, detailing the layout of the victims' home and where a spare key was located to access the inside of the house.
It was eventually determined in the investigation that Jeremiah Peikert was a member of the U.S. Army, currently stationed in Texas, the warrant said.
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In an interview with state police in Azle, Texas, outside of Fort Worth, Jeremiah Peikert said that it was "not a total surprise" that Joshua Peikert wanted the woman hurt because he had "displayed violent tendencies, even growing up." He also described his brother as "manipulative," which he said led him to cooperate with the murder plot, and that he was not aware the children were included in the plan.
He also told state police that Joshua Peikert had made arrangements with his cellmate to pay $10,000 for each victim once the murders were done, the warrant said.
State police attempted to interview Joshua Peikert at Corrigan, but after meeting with an attorney, Peikert requested to "exercise his right not to speak with us about the allegations made against him," according to the warrant.
Joshua Peikert was unable to post his $500,000 bond and is in custody with the Connecticut Department of Correction, state police said.
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