Two million dollar bail for husband on hitman plot charge in US
A judge has set bail at two million dollars (£1.2m) for a father from the Black Country accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill his ex-wife.
William Wallace, who is from the Yew Tree estate, on the border of Walsall and Sandwell, but now lives in Santa Ana, California, appeared in court in the US yesterday charged with her attempted murder.
The 33-year-old allegedly offered an undercover officer posing as a hired killer $30,000 (£18,000) to carry out the crime over Christmas.
Wallace appeared in court in California yesterday for a bail review hearing. The judge ordered he must prove the legitimacy of the funds before being released. A hearing over this issue has been set for January 16 ahead of a pre-trial review hearing on January 22. He is also due to appear at court again on February 26 for a preliminary hearing.
Wallace is involved in a custody and child support battle with his ex-wife, who has not been named. Police have said that Wallace showed the undercover detective a photo of the victim so that she could be identified and offered to pay $30,000 for the hit.
Wallace allegedly requested that the murder take place after December 23, when he would be back in the West Midlands.
Wallace is accused of hiring a private investigator in August to find 'negative information' about his daughter's mother.
Prosecutors claim that a month later he had told the detective he instead wanted his ex-wife killed and asked if he knew anyone who could do it and dispose of the body.
At a previous hearing in Santa Ana, Senior Deputy District Attorney Heather Brown said he had trusted the investigator and mentioned that it would be probably cheaper if he murdered her.
Wallace is accused of meeting the undercover detective, whom he believed to be a man who could facilitate the murder, on December 21. Wallace was charged with premeditated attempted murder and two counts of solicitation to commit murder.
