Jeremiah Peikert is a U.S. Army sergeant in Texas who is accused of participating in a plot to hire a hitman to kill a woman, her boyfriend, and two small children, according to court documents posted by Connecticut State Police.
He was arrested on May 2.
The arrest summary for Jeremiah Peikert says that he lives in Azle, Texas, and is 30 years old. His age at the incident was 28. He faces two conspiracy charges, according to the court document, which contains his mugshot. The summary was posted by the Connecticut State Police.
Court documents posted by police specify that the charge is “conspiracy to commit murder” in Montville, Connecticut, between July 22 and July 26, 2022. That document gives Peikert’s address as Copperas Cove, Texas. The court documents say that Peikert is accused of being involved in the murder-for-hire plot with his brother Joshua Peikert. Joshua Peikert, 31, is also under arrest, according to the documents.
Bail was set at $500,000, court documents say.
The second count was listed as “conspiracy to commit risk of injury to a minor.”
Here’s what you need to know:
The Murder-for-Hire Plot Involved 2 Kids, Ages 10 and 1, Connecticut Police Says
Connecticut State PoliceJeremiah Peikert
The arrest warrant accuses Peikert of a “conspiracy to commit the murders of a 29-year-old adult female, a 10-year-old juvenile female, a 1-year-old juvenile female, and a 23-year-old adult male.”
The victims’ names and addresses were kept confidential due to Connecticut State Law.
The affidavit accuses Peikert and his brother of the following:
On October 19, 2022, a detective was assigned to investigate a suspicious incident at Corrigan Correctional Center in Montville, Connecticut. A prior inmate, who is correctly incarcerated at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, Connecticut, had “reportedly sent a handwritten letter to Victim #1.”
This letter “detailed a possible ‘murder for hire’ plot with victim #1, her children, victim #2 and victim #3, as well as her boyfriend, victim #4 as the intended targets,” the court documents say.
Joshua Peikert was accused of planning this murder with a witness when they were cellmates at Corrigan Correctional Center. He allegedly hired witness #1 to find a “hitman” to murder the above victims, the records say.
Victim #1 contacted the Groton City Police Department, which in turn contacted the Connecticut State Police to investigate, the records say.
The witness stated that “after only a short period of time of being cell mates with Josh, he disclosed to me that he wanted victims #1, #12, #3, and #4 murdered. We were discussing previous illegal activity at the time and I told Josh that I knew a few people that could have that taken care of for him,” the records quote the inmate, who was not identified, as saying.
The inmate told Joshua Peikert it would cost “approximately 10 thousand dollars a head for each person killed,” the records say, adding that Joshua Peikert said it was “doable.” He wrote down on a piece of paper “the victim’s address, where the victims would sleep, as well as the location of a spare key in the outdoor electrical outlet to gain access to the home,” the documents say
The inmate said he had no intention of actually hiring the hitman. But he asked for $500 as a “finder’s fee” and this was sent, the records say. The affidavit says the inmate claims the words “construction job” and “materials” were codes “for the hit.
Jeremiah Peikert Is Accused of Facilitating Money Transfers to the Inmate
Connecticut State PoliceJoshua Peikert.
The witness provided the detective with a handwritten letter from Joshua Peikert that detailed the location of the victim’s home, “the layout of the residence and the location of a spare key to gain access.” The word “job” was written at the bottom.
On July 19, 2022, Jeremiah Peikert deposited $100 into the witness’s account via a credit card, the documents say. Jeremiah Peikert is Joshua Peikert’s young brother “and a member of the armed forces.”
Warrants were obtained for Joshua’s phone call conversations with Jeremiah, who is a “member of the U.S. Army, currently stationed at Fort Cavazos, Texas,” the records say.
The affidavit says there were calls between the inmate and Jeremiah Peikert about the transfer of funds.
In another call, the inmate explained that the person who was going to do the “job” for Josh Peikert was arrested in Florida, records say.
Jeremiah Peikert is accused of saying, “The good news is that the job is going to get done because the payment, the agreement went through; the bad news is it may take a little while to happen’ maybe two weeks.”
He is an Army sergeant, the affidavit says.
The affidavit says Jeremiah Peikert then made a statement saying that he knew the “construction job” was not related to any type of actual construction and knew the job related to having the victim hurt,” the affidavit says.
He said that he “knew the money I sent was being paid to witness #1 for his role in arranging to have victim #1 hurt. I did not believe the kids were planned to be involved in this scheme,” the records say.
He said he had thoughts of notifying the police or the victim but did not and said he sent the money because the inmate kept pressuring him. He then added, “I don’t recall any conversations that let me know how victim #1 would be hurt or killed,” the documents say.
Jeremiah described Josh as displaying “violent tendencies even growing up,” the records say. He said Josh was manipulative and did mention “not wanting victim #1 or the kids in his life anymore and didn’t want to see them. I did not immediately connect this with wanting them killed, but it makes sense now.”
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