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 Charles Waldo was indicted by a grand jury with nine counts of
solicitation to commit murder and one count of conspiracy to commit
murder on Wednesday, Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark
Peterson said in a statement. Those counts are in addition to 50
other charges already filed against Waldo.
The alleged crimes were revealed when one of the witnesses learned
that a "hit" had been put out on him while Waldo was incarcerated at
the Martinez Detention Facility, some 35 miles (56 km) northeast of
San Francisco, Peterson said.
Authorities later discovered a document that listed the names of the
witnesses, the order in which they should be killed, and suggestions
as to the methods, including staged car accidents, drug overdoses
and robberies "gone bad."
Waldo's attorney, Howard Williams, told the ABC7 television network
that his client had no reason to plot the murders, and that he was a
routinely misunderstood businessman.
"He's sort of a Steve Jobs-like figure," Williams said, according to
ABC7. "In the process, like Steve Jobs, he didn't make a lot of
friends, necessarily."
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Waldo had been jailed after prosecutors investigated him over an
allegedly fraudulent auto insurance claim, which led to other
charges including brandishing a firearm, violating a restraining
order and felony vandalism, Peterson said.
If convicted, Waldo could face a maximum sentence of 25 years to
life in prison, Peterson said.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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