FBI: N.J. official hired hitman to kill wife

A former New Jersey official serving a federal sentence for accepting $30,000 in bribes was charged today with trying to hire a hitman to murder his wife, authorities said.

Richard Kaplan, 58, is a former New Brunswick city construction inspector and zoning officer who is serving a 30-month sentence in Cumberland County after he pleaded guilty last year to taking bribes from contractors.

Kaplan wanted his wife dead because she was divorcing him, said Christopher J. Christie, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.

Shortly after arriving at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton last spring, Kaplan asked a fellow inmate if he knew anyone who could kill his wife, Christie said.

According to court papers, Kaplan said he would pay up to $30,000 for the slaying, which he wanted to be staged as a car accident.

Last month, during a meeting at the prison with a "hit man" who was actually an undercover FBI agent, Kaplan offered a downpayment of $2,000 and said he would pay the balance when he was out on furlough for his wife's funeral, Christie said.

Kaplan chose a Boston Market restaurant in New Brunswick as the location where his accountant delivered the first installment.

Kaplan told the unsuspecting accountant that the man he was meeting was a private investigator hired "to check up on her in case I need something on her for my divorce," according to court documents

"If not for an undercover FBI agent stepping into Kaplan's plot, it's clear that he intended to carry it out," Christie said. "That makes him an extremely unrepentant felon who has now compounded his troubles."