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A Wisconsin father and son have been accused of plotting to kill a family member in a murder-for-hire scheme over an inheritance.
Joseph Anthony Hoppa, 62, and Jason P. Hoppa, 38, have each been charged with one count of solicitation of first degree intentional homicide for attempting to hire a hitman to ‘take out’ the intended target, Joseph’s other son.
The pair offered a ‘hitman‘ a total of $40,000 to kill the family member over a property the target had inherited from his grandfather, including property and an undisclosed amount of money.
Joseph and Jason told the man he would get ‘$20,000 now and $20,000 when he took [the intended victim] out,’ authorities said.
Jason Hoppa, 38, and Joseph Hoppa, 62, have both been charged in a murder-for-hire plot to kill their family member over an inheritance
Police were first contacted and called to a home in the Town of Berlin in late October by the ‘hitman’ who claimed the Hoppas had offered him money to take out the victim.
The man told officers he had spoken with the father and son back in July and was finally coming clean because he couldn’t live with the info any longer, according to WBAY-TV.
The hitman, whose name has not been released, told investigators Jason had ‘lots of firearms’ and he would file off the serial number for one of the guns so it could not be traced back to them.
Jason and Joseph’s family member had been the primary beneficiary of his grandfather’s estate upon his death, including his Berlin, Wisconsin, property and cash.
The family members believed the brother had conned and manipulated the grandfather into handing over the estate.
Joseph had first with the intended hitman while looking for a place to live and inquiring about a property with Joseph.
During a meeting between Joseph and the hitman, Hoppa told him he could move into the property if he would be willing to ‘do some favors down the road.’
Jason, pictured here in a Trump hat, told the intended hitman he he ‘wanted him to kill his brother,’ officials said
Several weeks later, Joseph met the man again and asked him if he could ‘kill someone and get away with it.’
Joseph told the man ‘you want to kill my kid,’ during this meeting, according a criminal complaint.
In response, the hitman said: ‘What happened to blood is thicker than water?’
Joseph, the target’s father then allegedly replied: ‘No love here, I have no love for this kid. He’s got to go, no ifs, and or buts, he’s got to f—ing go.’
Jason, when asked by officials, said he doubted his father would arrange to kill his brother
Of his son, the intended target, Joseph allegedly said: ‘No love here, I have no love for this kid. He’s got to go, no ifs, and or buts, he’s got to f—ing go’
Joseph also allegedly threatened to harm the hitman if he went to the police.
Jason also spoke with the hitman and said he ‘wanted him to kill his brother,’ and gave him advice on where the cameras were on the property and how he could ‘pop’ the victim and walk away.
At a later meeting inside a Berlin bar, Jason showed the intended hitman a gun, which is also allegedly featured on Jason’s Facebook page.
The hitman backed out of cooperating with authorities in November but agreed to record a phone call with Joseph Hoppa.
This is the Berlin, Wisconsin bar where it is believed Joseph met with the intended hitman to discuss killing his son
‘If you still want it done, I’ll go down and put a bullet in his head right now before I leave town,’ the intended hitman said during the recorded conversation.
Joseph responded, ‘I can’t do something like that.’
Hitman: ‘Is this something you’re still interested in after this court s–t is done and you get paid?’
Joseph: ‘I kinda think I wouldn’t wanna have anybody done, but there are other things that could be done later on. Right now I gotta wait til everything gets done and I get paid. Otherwise, I wouldn’t get anything.’
This is the home of Joseph Hoppa, which was searched by police on November 30
The call continued:
Hitman: ‘The only reason I’m asking is because I talked to Jason the other day and he said he was gonna talk to you and because of the conversation that me and you had.’
JOSEPH: ‘Yup, yup,’ he said. ‘As long as he’s got your number, if I needed any work done or anything, I’d let you know.’
JOSEPH: ‘Right now, I’m just trying to get things going so I get paid, that’s the problem, I haven’t gotten paid anything.’
Hitman: ‘Alright, sounds good. Let me know.’
The entire situation played out in Berlin, Wisconsin
On November 30, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Joseph’s home and the man was taken into custody.
After his arrest, Joseph said he would not want to harm his son, telling officers: ‘No, I am a Christian’ and ‘I wouldn’t do something like that.’
While speaking with police, he did admit that he had believed his father’s estate would have been split 50/50 with his son, the intended target.
He also admitted to speaking with the hitman but denied wanting to hurt his son.
Joseph met with the intended hitman several times and at one point allegedly threatened to harm him if he went to the police
‘He stated that even though he has disgruntles with his son, he wouldn’t want anything to happen,’ the criminal complaint states.
‘He stated that he would feel pretty bad about that and again stated that he would never contract anyone or have any harm done to his son in any way, shape, or form.
‘He stated that’s not him, he was born and raised Catholic and was an altar boy,’ the complaint continues.
Joseph Hoppa has claimed it was the hitman who wanted to kill his son.
‘We then asked him what his response was when somebody that he barely knows offer to kill his son. JOSEPH ANTHONY HOPPA stated that he didn’t need this type of attention and he didn’t want to call the cops or anything to draw attention to himself,’ the complaint states.
This appears to be the gun found inside Jason Hoppa’s home. He had posted this picture to his Facebook page in 2012
Another search warrant was executed at Jason’s property and he also denied wanting his brother dead, but admitted they were upset over the inheritance issue.
When asked, Jason said he doubted his father would arrange to kill his brother.
During the search, officers found a Beretta Grandone VT that had the serial numbers scratched off. Jason had posted a picture of a 9mm gun to his Facebook page in 2012.
Officers also discovered a 20-gauge sawed-off shotgun, the complaint stated.
The pair appeared in a Green Lake County courtroom Tuesday for the first time
The Hoppas appeared in Green Lake County Court for an initial appearance Tuesday.
The victim’s attorney on his behalf asked the judge to remove his dad, Joseph, from his own house because he lives just 100 yards away.
The judge called that a ‘drastic remedy.’
‘I will order defendant not have any cameras that can record or see the victim home, and the defendant cannot use any thing to improve his sight such as binoculars or telescopes,’ Judge Mark Slate said Tuesday.
Joseph and Jason have both posted $50,000 cash bond.
Joseph and Jason have both posted $50,000 cash bond
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