THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997 TAG: 9702010291
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 53 lines
With a down payment of cash and her wedding rings, a 30-year-old woman tried to arrange to have her husband killed, police say.
But the ``hit man'' from Boston she sat down to breakfast with Friday to plot the murder turned out to be an undercover cop.
Jennifer Gambill of the 1800 block of Buttonwood St. was being held in the city jail without bond Friday night on a charge of attempted capital murder, police said.
Her husband, Mark Gambill, a Navy chief petty officer, could not be reached for comment.
Police spokesman Dick Black said Jennifer Gambill had been living with her husband and their two small children. Black said a $200,000 life insurance policy on Mark Gambill may have been a factor in the plot to kill him.
The investigation began Thursday when a woman who described herself as a friend of Jennifer Gambill's called police, Black said, and told them Gambill had asked her to participate in a murder plot.
Police first contacted the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to begin a joint investigation because of Mark Gambill's Navy ties.
Then investigators asked the informant to meet with Jennifer Gambill again and talk about the murder plan. This time, however, the informant wore a hidden microphone. ``As part of the plan, the informant told the suspect she could get someone from out of state to do the job,'' Black said. He said Gambill agreed.
On Friday morning, the two women went to Norfolk International Airport to meet the supposed contract killer - who was actually a Chesapeake detective. Police arranged the rendezvous to coincide with the arrival of a regularly scheduled commercial flight from Boston.
After the trio linked up, they drove to a restaurant in Chesapeake. They were followed by a second unmarked car with more police investigators in it.
Over a leisurely breakfast, the undercover officer, who also was wired to record the conversation, ``listened as the suspect gave her idea of how best to plot the crime,'' Black said.
``The suspect suggested that she and her husband go to a local restaurant for dinner and, while leaving the restaurant, a robbery attempt would be made,'' Black said. In the process of that robbery, ``her husband would be shot and killed.''
The woman even laid plans to insulate herself from suspicion.
She told the supposed hit man it would be a ``good idea if she were beaten up to make the crime appear more real,'' Black said, ``and remove any suspicion from herself.''
To seal the agreement, the undercover officer was paid a ``substantial amount of cash'' and given the woman's wedding rings, Black said. The friend was also promised $35,000 from the insurance policy and a new pickup truck.
Shortly after, Jennifer Gambill was arrested without incident.
KEYWORDS: MURDER FOR HIRE