A 39-year-old Seattle man who allegedly attempted to hire an undercover police officer posing as a hit man to shoot his girlfriend in the leg and slash her face is being held on a $1 million bond at the King County Jail along with his 22-year-old cousin who reportedly helped set up the assault.
Francisco Lopez-Agudo is alleged to have first sought someone to kill his girlfriend, whom he suspected of cheating on him. His cousin, Sergio Ruiz Lopez, made contact with a confidential informant who alerted a Bellevue Police detective of the murder-for-hire plot, according to court documents. Lopez-Agundo has a wife in Mexico.
“We got the tip and we called Seattle (Police), and they said work it,” said Carla Iafrate, public information officer for BPD, who confirmed such an investigation doesn’t come up often. “I haven’t look at how many we have, but it’s rare.”
Police recorded multiple phone conversations between the informant and Ruiz Lopez in early September, as well as a meeting at a Seattle taco stand, where the Bellevue Police Special Enforcement Team conducted surveillance. Ruiz Lopez met the informant again in late September at a Bartell Drug store. His brother, Margarito Ruiz Lopez, is alleged to have driven him there. He is being held on a $20,000 bond for first-degree rendering criminal assistance.
Court documents state Lopez-Agundo and Ruiz Lopez eventually agreed to meet with the “hit man” around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday (Oct. 2) in the Burien Safeway parking lot. Translating for his cousin, Ruiz Lopez is reportedly told the undercover officer Lopez-Agudo wanted his girlfriend shot three times in the leg and her face slashed. The officer was also provided with a photo of the girlfriend, her name and address.
When the officer told the cousins the woman might die from three shots to the leg, court documents state they lowered the request to one shot, but also did not mind if she died in the assault. He allegedly wanted the assault to occur this weekend while the mother-of-two was at work.
The officer and cousins reportedly worked out a payment of one ounce of heroin to start, and another two ounces and $500 after the assault. Both men were arrested in Seattle’s University District following the meeting. The intended victim was notified of her boyfriend’s plot and placed in an undisclosed location for her safety.
The court found probable cause to hold all three men for first-degree conspiracy to commit assault. A second court appearance is set for today, which is also the deadline for charges to be filed, according to the King County Prosecutor’s Office.
