Julia Merfeld, wife in Muskegon's fake hit man case caught on video, being sentenced today

Mlive ^ | 7-30-2013 | John Hausman

[Darren McCarty]

MUSKEGON, MI – Today is judgment day for 21-year-old Julia Charlene Merfeld, who thought she was hiring a hit man to murder her husband but really was being video-recorded with an undercover police officer.

Merfeld’s sentencing is set for 1:30 p.m. today, July 30. Chief Muskegon County Circuit Judge William C. Marietti earlier committed to cap her minimum sentence at six years in state prison, but he has the discretion to set her maximum sentence at anything up to life.

Merfeld pleaded guilty June 27 to solicitation to murder.

MLive and the Muskegon Chronicle will cover the sentencing live online from the courtrooms, with updates in the comments section of a story to be posted on MLive.com/muskegon/.

Under state sentencing guidelines – which are low in Merfeld’s case because she has no prior criminal record – the highest Marietti can go on the minimum sentence would be seven years. That’s what the Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Office asked for.

At the time of Merfeld’s plea, the judge said he was agreeing to a cap slightly below that because the intended victim, Merfeld’s 27-year-old husband, asked that she receive no incarceration.

Husband Jacob Merfeld has the right to speak before sentencing, but it was unknown Monday if he intended to do so.

In Michigan, sentences to state prison are for an “indeterminate” term, with judges setting both a minimum and a maximum. The maximum must be at least 50 percent higher than the minimum. The state parole board eventually decides how long an inmate serves, within the limits set by the judge.

Following her arrest, authorities said, Merfeld confessed to police detectives that she wanted her husband murdered so she could collect a $400,000 life insurance policy.

[JoeFromSidney]

Ironically, I hadn't read "Strangers on a train" until after my book was published, and my brother in law called my attention to it. Good ideas seem to occur to many people.