Sources link TV chef’s alleged murder-for-hire plot to fertility problems with wife

LOS ANGELES
— Investigators are looking into the possibility that the
murder-for-hire scheme in which a former TV chef allegedly tried to
have homeless people kill his wife might have been fueled by the
couple’s fertility problems, sources familiar with the case told the
Los Angeles Times.

The sources said onetime Food Network personality and author Juan-Carlos Cruz may have solicited his wife’s murder as part of a murder-suicide plan.
While the scenario is under investigation, some law enforcement
officials are skeptical that Cruz planned to kill himself.

Authorities have not publicly stated what they believe the motive for the alleged plot was.

Cruz, 48, appeared in the courtroom of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz on Monday and pleaded not guilty to solicitation of murder and attempted murder of his wife, using two homeless men.

Cruz’s next court date is June 23. He was being held in lieu of $2 million bail.

The sources, who spoke on the condition that they
not be named because the case was ongoing, said Cruz allegedly provided
a weapon and a cell phone to at least one homeless man in Santa Monica. The man informed police, claiming Cruz had asked him to kill his wife.

On Monday, prosecutors identified Cruz’s wife, attorney Jennifer Campbell, as the target of the alleged scheme.

Cruz, a Los Angeles resident, was arrested by undercover Santa Monica police detectives at a local dog park last Thursday after a weeklong investigation.

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