Former Food Network TV chef pleads no contest to seeking murder of his wife
Prosecutors announced Tuesday that a former Food Network TV chef had pleaded no contest to soliciting two homeless men to kill his wife.
Juan Carlos Cruz made the plea at a preliminary hearing Tuesday. Under the deal, prosecutors dropped one count of attempted murder. He faces nine years in prison. He pleaded to attempted solicitation of murder.
Santa Monica police say Cruz, 48, of Westwood, asked homeless men to commit homicide for him. After one of the homeless men told police, investigators launched a weeklong undercover operation that ended with Cruz's arrest in a Cheviot Hills dog park.
Neighbors and co-workers told The Times it was difficult to reconcile the accusations of police with the man they had come to know — a devout churchgoer, community volunteer and doting husband.
A Knights of Columbus member who attended St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, Cruz was a dog owner who volunteered at Love on 4 Paws, a therapy program that provides animals to sick children.
Cruz's wife, Jennifer Campbell, his high-school sweetheart, worked long hours as an attorney, neighbors said. He was often seen walking the couple's two dogs outside the Westside condominium complex where they have lived for many years.
-- Andrew Blankstein
Photo: Juan Carlos Cruz in May. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
EDITOR'S PICKS:
WOW!!!!
Posted by: BIG GAME HUNTER | October 26, 2010 at 12:20 PM
Ain't love grand.
Posted by: sailbyme | October 26, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Seems to me that homeless people might not be the most reliable people in the world.
My morbid curiosity wants to know what was going on inside his mind to hate his wife so much to contract homeless to kill her...
Posted by: Jim Townes | October 26, 2010 at 01:42 PM
Soliciting for a killer of his wife is a sure recipe for a long prison term.
Posted by: tanaS | October 26, 2010 at 01:43 PM
Only nine years for hiring someone to kill your spouse? And he'll probably get out much sooner?
Sounds like a good deal to me.
Posted by: sallie | October 26, 2010 at 05:28 PM
its cheaper to kill the spouse than divorce them/ new take of 'until death do us part'.
Posted by: casual observer | October 26, 2010 at 07:51 PM
A typical liberal!
Posted by: Anna | October 27, 2010 at 05:35 AM
He's a sick dog and should be put down with one shot.
Posted by: Mark Phillips | October 27, 2010 at 04:37 PM