Chef Juan Carlos Cruz was recently arrested for suspicion of solicitation to commit murder and the target was his wife (mugshot here). The former Food Network host wanted to hire three homeless dudes, instructing them to “cut a woman’s throat”. Cruz also explaining the woman had recently inherited fortune, which apparently never existed. The police hasn’t been able to determine the real motive yet.

Cruz first contacted Little Dave, offering a grand for the service and giving him a box which contained a box cutter, disposable cell phone, gloves and a pocket watch. Cruz paid half (he actually ripped the 100 dollar bills in half!) and promised to give him the other half of the money when the job was done.

Dave told the story to his fellow homeless partner, Shane, who called Cruz on the disposable cell phone to plan the murder. A third homeless guy, Big Dave, also got involved.

The three men and Cruz met in Santa Monica, where the chef showed a picture of the target (his wife!) and went over the plan – Cruz picked his wife up at some place every day and they would show up and as she was getting in the car, they were supposed to slit her throat.

Meanwhile, Big Dave was arrested and decided to tell the cops about Cruz’s plan. The cops asked the three men to help them bust Cruz. They set up a meeting with Cruz and he came up with a new plan – he would give them the code to his apartment and one of them would be inside as strangle her as soon as she walked in. Cruz even showed Big Dave his apartment and how to escape security cameras.