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Two Plead Guilty in 2010 Montco Murder-For-Hire Plot

By Brad Segall

KING of PRUSSIA, Pa. (CBS) -- Two people admitted late yesterday in Montgomery County Court that they were involved in a murder-for-hire plot that ended with the killing of a Delaware County, Pa. man in King of Prussia more than three years ago.

Prosecutors say it was 31-year-old Delia Hernandez who put the plan in motion, hiring Gabriel Martinez-Lopez to kill her husband, Jose Olarte.

She pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and solicitation, while Martinez-Lopez' brother Miguel pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and conspiracy.

Prosecutor John Gradel says the brothers kidnapped and tortured Olarte before killing him with a landscaping paver.

"They put him on his knees at gunpoint and then crushed the block over his head," Gradel tells KYW Newsradio.  "And then, when he went down on the concrete floor, they hit him five more times in the head, so there were six cracks of his skull."

As for a motive, Gradel says Hernandez was looking to get out of a bad marriage and hired Gabriel Martinez-Lopez, giving him $500 to buy a gun -- and then their truck as payment for the killing.  Gradel says they had some sort of relationship but stopped short of calling it an affair.

Gabriel Martinez-Lopez is still headed for trial and could face the death penalty.

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