Man convicted in plot to hire hitman to kill ex-wife

HARTFORD — A federal jury in Hartford has found a 56-year-old Clinton man guilty of murder for hire, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The trial before U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant against James Erik Godiksen began July 10, and the jury returned its verdict Friday, according to the release.

According to the evidence at trial, in 2016, while he was incarcerated at New Haven Correctional Center, Godiksen reached out to other inmates seeking a person who would be willing to kill his former wife.

Between Sept. 10 and 14, 2016, Godiksen and a special agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, acting in an undercover capacity, spoke multiple times by phone. During these conversations, Godiksen offered to pay the undercover agent $5,000 to murder his “ex-wife,” and provided the agent with a physical description of his former wife, her phone number, her home address, her place of work, and the route she typically drove to work, according to the release.

Godiksen also told the undercover agent how he would like his former wife to be murdered, officials said in the release. He offered the undercover agent additional money if he encountered his former wife’s current boyfriend and killed him, too, the release said.

Godiksen was arrested Sept. 14, 2016, after he met with the undercover agent and provided him with a “down payment” of $80, some of which was to be used to purchase a knife. He has been detained since his arrest. He faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

This matter was investigated by the ATF, Clinton police and Connecticut Department of Correction. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rahul Kale and Dave Vatti.