Arrest in plot to hire hit man to kill relative
A Virginia duplex just miles away from the Pentagon exploded into a fiery blaze Monday night, rocking a community plagued just hours earlier by a suspect shooting a flare gun into the neighborhood from the same residence.
The suspect, identified as James Yoo, is now believed to be dead, according to Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn, who spoke during a Tuesday news conference.
Penn added that investigators discovered a chemical agent that had been deployed in the dwelling before the blast. Assistant Fire Chief Jason Jenkins said it’s still too early to know if the explosion was caused by something interacting with the agent, according to WTOP reporter Neal Augenstein.
Authorities received a series of calls about shots fired in Arlington about 4:45 p.m., Arlington County police spokeswoman Ashley
Savage told reporters. Officers were able to quickly determine the suspect was using a flare gun, firing off between 30 and 40 shots from a home on N. Burlington Street.
“During the course of the investigation, officers obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s residence and attempted to make contact with the suspect over the telephone and through loudspeakers,” the police said early Tuesday. “The suspect did not respond and remained barricaded inside the residence.”
As responding officers attempted to serve the warrant, Yoo allegedly unleashed another several rounds, this time from a suspected firearm, police said. The explosion occurred shortly thereafter, about 8:30 p.m. Video shows the multistory residence surrounded by first responders and police vehicles just before a massive fireball exploded through the roof, raining embers, ash and debris onto the sidewalk below.
The force of the blast was enough to blow out the walls of the residence, ultimately causing its collapse. Several nearby homes were also evacuated as a result, Capt. Nate Hiner of the Arlington Fire Department said, though he did not provide an approximate number.
The gas in Yoo’s home had been shut off by the Arlington Fire Department prior to the blast, Penn added Tuesday.
The police chief reported that all indications are that Yoo was the person who died in the explosion, and that the people who lived in the other part of the duplex had been evacuated before the blast as a precaution.
Firefighters were able to gain control of the blaze about 10:30 p.m., but Arlington County Fire Department crews continued to battle small spot fires, police said early Tuesday. “As soon as the fire is brought under control and there is [no] threat or risk of that fire spreading to those structures, neighbors will be brought back in as the situation determines,” Hiner said.
While several police officers reported minor injuries, no one was hospitalized.
Savage told reporters that Yoo was believed to be the only person in the home at the time of the incident.
Connecticut State Police have arrested a man from Kenya who allegedly attempted to hire a hit man to kill a female family member who was scheduled to testify against him, according to statements made in court Tuesday.
Leonard Thuo Mwithiga, 52, had been staying in a hotel in Putnam when he was arrested Monday, reports NBC News Connecticut.
“It was determined that there is a current court proceeding involving the accused and the victim in which the execution of this murder-for-hire plot would render the victim unable to testify,” said the state police.
The details of those proceedings are unclear and have not been made public.
Mwithiga had reportedly been requesting help from another person to connect him with a hit man, asking multiple times between Sept. 9 and Dec. 1. Court documents shared details of several conversations in which Mwithiga asked for help finding someone who could “hit” the family member, “put that woman down” and “finish her.”
On Dec. 1, he allegedly told the informant it was OK if the woman was injected with something to make her sick, “like a cancer,” court documents stated.
Following an extensive investigation, an undercover state trooper then posed as a “hit man” and set up a meeting with Mwithiga.
Mwithiga was later arrested and charged with criminal attempt at intimidation of a witness, conspiracy to commit murder and criminal attempt at murder with special circumstances.
Prosecutors successfully requested that his bond be set at $5 million for the time being, as he frequently traveled back and forth from Kenya and was determined to be a flight risk.
The judge also demanded Mwithiga hand over all firearms and keep his distance from any victims and/or witnesses.
The 52-year-old maintains he is innocent, according to his public defender, who said during court proceedings that his client was a manager at a bank and held a degree from the University of Kenya.
Mwithiga’s next court date scheduled for Jan. 26. is