A Lake County
Jail inmate is accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill his ex-wife and her boyfriend after deputies find a written “hit list” contract in his cell.
A Lake County Jail inmate was accused Wednesday of trying to hire a hitman to kill his ex-wife and her boyfriend after deputies found a written “hit list” contract in his cell earlier this month, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
Michael Lee, 32, of Leesburg, had been in jail for violating probation from a 2016 domestic battery conviction involving his ex. He was charged Wednesday with criminal solicitation for murder.
Other inmates told detectives he was inquiring asking his jail pod, in search of someone to kill his ex-wife and her boyfriend, according to the arrest report.
Lee was offering his “20 meal trays” from the jail cafeteria and another $2,000 to be paid when he was released from the jail April 18, the report said.
One witness, the author of the contract, had “indicated the names and signatures of parties involved” on the written agreement, the report said.
Another told detectives that Lee was an “idiot and he was going to take trays off of him and he had no intention of doing anything when he gets out.”
A third witness said Lee offered to bring him a gun to kill his ex-wife and her boyfriend.
Lake sheriff’s Sgt. Fred Jones said deputies couldn’t prove that any inmates intended to carry out the hit.
Lee admitted to detectives that he talked to inmates but said he only gave meal trays because others lacked the money to purchase food at the jail commissary.
He denied that he solicited an inmate to kill his ex-wife, the report said.
Lee has an “extensive history of stalking and threats,” the report said.
He is being held at the Lake County Jail without bond.