Jurors chosen in murder-for-hire trial
Man accused of plot to kill ex-girlfriend, friend’s ex-husband
Leon Jacob, a failed doctor at the center of an alleged murder-for-hire plot to hire a hit man to kill not only his past girlfriend, but the ex-husband of his new girlfriend, went on trial Monday as a jury was seated to hear the case.
Opening statements to the jury from prosecutors and defense attorneys are scheduled for Tuesday in a trial expected to last at least a week.
On Monday, state District Judge Jim Wallace ruled on several pre-trial motions including allowing jurors to hear testimony that Jacob, 40, was free on bail on an earlier charge of assaulting his former girlfriend when he allegedly hired an undercover Houston officer posing as a hit man.
The judge has denied bail for Jacob, ruling that he posed a danger to the public.
"It's the reason he wanted (the victim) gone," prosecutor Samantha Knecht said before the bench. Knecht, an assistant Harris County district attorney, is trying the case with prosecutor Cameron Calligan.
Defense attorney George Parnham is expected to argue that Jacob was the victim of entrapment and has said he will call experts to testify about the audiotape of the alleged murder-for-hire negotiations. Parnham is defending Jacob with attorney Matthew Pospisil.
During pre-trial motions, Parnham asked that prosecutors be prohibited from saying the words: "murder," "kill," "eliminate," or "terminate," which are words that Parnham said are not on any audiotape.
The judge declined to bar prosecutors from using those words.
The notorious case became national news when Jacob, a medical resident fired from the transplant unit of Methodist Hospital with a history of lying and domestic violence, was arrested in March 2017 with his then-girlfriend, Valerie Busick McDaniel, a successful and well-regarded Montrose veterinarian.
During a meal in an Italian restaurant, they allegedly agreed to give a hit man $20,000 and two Cartier watches to kill their exes. The contract killer proved to be an undercover police officer.
The veterinarian, who was going through a custody battle with her ex-husband and allegedly wanted him dead, killed herself by jumping from her high-rise condominium just days after being arrested.
On Monday, a panel of 80 people arrived for jury selection in the ceremonial courtroom of the civil courthouse.
Jacob’s jury consists of 11 men and 1 woman, along with two women who were picked as alternate jurors.
If convicted of solicitation of capital murder, Jacob faces the possibility of life in prison.