A man who planned on having his wife and daughter murdered accidentally texted his ex-boss instead of his hitman requesting their brutal demise.
Jeff Lytle, 42, sent the alarming message to the wrong man on February 7.
As soon as his ex-boss received the text, he contacted police at the Snowhomish County Sheriff's Office and Lytle was arrested, People reports.
According to court documents, the text was addressed to a man named "Shayne," and asked if he could help him murder his wife and daughter.
The Washington man told "Shayne" they could split their life insurance cost after they died, which is a collective 1.5 million dollars.
Excerpts from the disturbing text message allegedly read,
Hey Shayne hows it going. You remember you said that you would help me kill my wife. I'm going to take you up on that offer.
The text message then asks the hitman to make it look like a "robbery gone wrong or make it a[n] accident," and specifies the worth of his wife and daughter's life insurance.
He said his wife is worth one million dollars, but he suggested if he wants more money he can kill his daughter, whose insurance is worth 500 thousand dollars.
Lytle said he'd "split everything with the insurance 50/50."
He also told his hitman information about where his wife worked, including her schedule and location.
Once Lytle was arrested, he was questioned by authorities about the alarming text.
At first, Lytle denied the text came from his phone, but he soon admitted he penned the message.
However, he claimed he wrote the text out of anger following an argument he and his wife had months ago and said he doesn't know a "Shayne."
Lytle figured his 4-year-old daughter found the text message in his drafts and accidentally sent it to his ex-boss.
Whether or not the message was meant to be sent to a hitman or merely used to vent about his wife, Lytle is being held under investigation for two counts of criminal solicitation for first-degree murder.
His wife, on the other hand, had no idea Lytle held so much vengeance toward her.
She said they'd been married for seven years and she sensed no issues between the two other than financial distress.
Citations: Father 'accidentally texted his ex-boss asking for help killing his wife and four-year-old daughter instead of the hitman he hired in a $1.5million murder-for-hire plot' (DailyMail.com), Husband Allegedly Sent 'Kill My Wife' Texts to His Ex-Boss Instead of His Hitman (PEOPLE)
