Ohio nurse offered ER patient $10,000 in murder-for-hire plot, police say

(AP) LAKEWOOD, Ohio - Andrew Martin, an Ohio nurse, hatched a plot to kill a woman he was in a home-ownership dispute with, authorities say, by approaching an emergency room patient at the renowned hospital where he worked with the question, "Ever killed anyone?"

No, the Cleveland Clinic patient replied, but "I shot someone in the leg once."

That was good enough, authorities say, for Martin, 23, who allegedly tried to resolve the dispute by offering the patient $10,000 to kill the woman, who wasn't hurt.

Authorities were first alerted to the alleged murder-for-hire scheme when the patient tipped off a police officer. Martin was arrested in November 2012 and was locked up without bail to await trial.

He is accused of using a cellphone to discuss the murder-for-hire plot, and because the cellular network crosses state lines, he is being charged in federal court, instead of state court.

Martin, of Bristolville, about 50 miles east of Cleveland, has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 7 in U.S. District Court in Cleveland.

His attorney, Edward LaRue, said "there's much more to come" in the case.