PINE BLUFF, AR – The Pine Bluff Police Department have arrested a man accused of hiring someone to kill his wife in a home burglary.
According to the police, 55-year-old Jeffery Winkler stopped two men walking on a street in Pine Bluff and “asked if they wanted to do a job.”
Police say one of the men agreed and met Mr. Winkler at a bookstore to learn about the job. It turned out that Mr. Winkler wanted the man to kill his wife and make it look like a burglary. In addition to the money for the murder ($700 up front, $1,500 after the job was finished), Winkler offered up several thousand dollars worth of jewelry, a TV, and his wife’s Yukon Denali to be taken in the robbery.
Mr. Winkler’s proposed hit man notified the police. A meeting, under surveillance of PBPD detectives, was set up between Mr. Winkler and this man. After money changed hands, the detectives surrounded Mr. Winkler’s vehicle and took him into custody.
Mr. Winkler was arrested on Probable Cause for Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Capital Murder and transported to the detective office and interviewed. Mr. Winkler was transported to a Jefferson County Detention Center pending formal charges being filed by the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
