MECOSTA COUNTY, Mich. – A Barryton man’s plan to have his estranged wife killed has been foiled, according to the Michigan State Police.
Detectives said several people came forward and accused 45-year-old Bryan Joseph Crowley of asking around for a hit man to do the job. That was several weeks ago. Mecosta County chief prosecutor Pete Jaklevic said that’s when police detectives got involved.
According to Jaklevic, Crowley wanted someone to break into his estranged wife’s house, kidnap, and kill her.
On June 23rd, Crowley is said to have met with a man who was willing to do the crime. At least that’s what he thought. The county prosecutor said the ‘hit man’ Crowley met with turned out to be an undercover police officer.
Crowley is now in the Mecosta County Jail. He now faces solicitation charges for murder, kidnapping, and home invasion. He’s also charged with solicitation of delivery of a controlled substance (cocaine), but authorities would not elaborate on that charge.
“The law treats solicitations very seriously, because in the actor’s mind… the person that’s asking for a murder to occur, the kidnapping to occur, the intent is there,” Jaklevic said.
Lieutenant Josh Lator, with the Michigan State Police Mount Pleasant post said, “Solicitation for murder is not something we see at the post on a daily basis. However, when they do come up, its cases like this, even though may not be something we face every day, it shows how much the teamwork (among law enforcement agencies) is necessary.”
It’s not clear why Crowley allegedly wanted his estranged wife dead, but he’s on the hook for it.
“We’re also are very fortunate and are very happy that we were able to thwart this before someone was hurt, or someone was killed, and that’s really the most important thing here today,” Jaklevic said.
Follow Darren Cunningham on Twitter @darrenfox17
