A Yorkville man has been charged with arranging a murder-for-hire plot to kill his former wife, according to a news release from Yorkville police on Thursday.
Mark Hellenthal, 52, of the 2000 block of Village View Drive in Yorkville, was arrested and charged Thursday with solicitation of murder and solicitation of murder for hire following a Yorkville police investigation that began on Wednesday, the release said.
On Wednesday, the police department was informed of a possible murder-for-hire plot, according to the department’s news release. They began an investigation and were able to locate the Yorkville man’s former wife and arrange for her safety until the situation was resolved, the release said.
The Yorkville Police Department Investigations Division, along with the Kendall County Cooperative Police Assistance Team, were authorized on Thursday to record communications with Hellenthal, according to the release. An undercover police officer posing as a hitman conversed with Hellenthal, who allegedly explained how to access his former wife’s home and offered cash and jewelry as payment for killing her, the release stated.
Hellenthal was later found at his workplace with assistance from the Downers Grove Police Department and was taken into custody by officers from Yorkville and members of the Kendall County Cooperative Police Assistance Team, the release said.
He was then taken to Kendall County Jail, the release stated.
