An Evergreen lawyer who owned and operated an animal rights law firm is being held in the Jefferson County Detention Center on charges of conspiring to kill her estranged husband's girlfriend, according to an affidavit.
During a six-month investigation, authorities said Jennifer R. Emmi, 43, attempted to hire a former military sniper and a ranch hand in the alleged murder plot.
Emmi, who is also widely known as Jennifer Edwards, was arrested Jan. 25 and charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, two counts of retaliating against a witness or victim and three counts of stalking, according to a 33-page affidavit.
At the time of her arrest, Emmi was also facing 16 felony and 16 misdemeanor charges in five separate ongoing cases. She is due in court regarding this case on Feb. 26, according to online court records.
During the six-month investigation by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, they uncovered patterns of harassment and stalking back to January 2019, when her husband Donald "Donnie" Emmi caught her cheating and asked for a divorce.
The incidents began in September 2019, when Emmi threatened to kill her 6-year-old daughter.
She continued to make threats and during a family birthday party in January 2020 she allegedly grabbed her husband by the back of the head and pressed a knife to the front of his throat, according to the affidavit.
Several weeks later, Emmi filed for divorce.
While her other legal cases were moving through the court system, Emmi contacted several individuals and alleged "that her estranged husband and his girlfriend have kidnapped, brainwashed and are abusing her children as part of a long-term plot to frame Jennifer."
Donald Emmi received a call from "Timothy," a ranch hand who is employed by Jennifer, and said he had a recorded phone conversation with Jennifer where she asked him if he knew how to find someone to kill her husband.
"Tim told Donnie he is concerned for his safety with respect to Jennifer, so he played along with it and told Jennifer he might be able to help but it might cost about $50,000 to $100,000," the affidavit read.
Emmi called Tim again and told him to "take care of" the girlfriend. After the call, he reported it to the Sheriff's Office.
Later that night, Emmi again called Tim and told him that she found someone in Texas "who could handle the problem."
Tim was supposed to contact that person, and, when he asked who the target was, she named her estranged husband's girlfriend, according to the affidavit.
Tim asked if she was serious, and she allegedly replied, "Yes" and "I'll have no regrets," according to the affidavit.
Emmi asked Tim whether her husband should be a target.
"I'm inclined to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak," Emmi said, according to the affidavit.
She then suggested nobody would ask questions if there was a car accident.
Emmi and Tim didn't confirm the details about the hit that night, but she is accused of approaching another employee, Seth, who was a sniper in the military.
Seth told investigators that Emmi was aware of his military background, but did not know if she knew he was a sniper, according to the affidavit.
Authorities, who obtained a search warrant for her cellphone, said they found online searches for "how to get rid of the other woman for good," and "how to rid rid of a husband's girlfriend."
Emmi is being held at the Jefferson County Detention Center on a $3 million cash bond.
Your Privacy Choice
Comments are open to Gazette subscribers only