Martin was arrested Thursday afternoon at a Meijer parking lot north of Port Huron after meeting with an undercover officer posing as a hit man. Police said Martin had been communicating with someone over the Internet and had expressed her desire to have her 48-year-old ex-boyfriend, whose name was not released, killed.

Michigan State Police Sgt. David Robertson said Martin initiated contact online with someone who "was not, obviously, a hit man. The suspect was communicating with somebody who was pretending to be somebody else and then the police got involved. This all revolves around the custody issue between the intended victim and the suspect."

He said the 5-year-old daughter is Martin's first, and that the child and others mothered by Martin were "safe."

He said Martin and the intended victim, both of whom communicate via sign language, have been separated for several years.

Other witnesses to the online conversations live in Rochester Hills, Robertson said. He said he believed the conversations took place through e-mails and instant messages.

Robertson said the intended victim's family members, who live near Gaylord, initially notified state police there. He would not say how much money Martin allegedly offered to have her ex-boyfriend murdered.

By Sven Gustafson
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/041506/loc_2006041503.shtml