La Jolla divorce attorney accused of trying to have wife killed

A La Jolla divorce attorney has been arrested on suspicion of trying to hire a hit-man to kill his wife.

Steven Liss, 53, was arrested on four counts of solicitation to commit murder, false imprisonment and spousal battery. He is set to be arraigned Tuesday in San Diego County Superior Court. He is being held on $1-million bail.

Liss was arrested after his wife, Karen, and members of the community "came forward with concerns for Karen's safety," said police spokeswoman Monica Munoz.

"The investigation revealed that on multiple occasions over the past several months, Liss sought the help of others to have his wife murdered," Munoz said.

Liss has twice had his law license suspended by the State Bar of California because of clients' complaints. In 2008, he was ordered to pay a former client the money that an arbitor had ruled the former client was due in a fee dispute.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Comments

[Jack Allen Harrington]

The time this clown gets will be very well deserved, no doubt about that. What an idiot!

[louis]

When you've got a divorse attorney killing his wife rather than going through the court proceedings, just shows how it's way too hard and expensive to get divorced.

To get married you just have to sign a piece of paper but then when your marriage turns into a nightmare you're stuck in a bad dream, the lawyers own you. The financial separations are a nightmare. We also should have an insurance system where people don't feel obliged to gt or stay married just to get health insurance from a spouse.