Man Pleads Guilty to Murder-for-Hire

Miami, Florida. – A Palm Beach County resident has pled guilty to one count of hiring someone to murder a woman in her West Palm Beach home.

During a hearing yesterday in federal district court in Ft. Lauderdale, 51-year-old Daniel Slater admitted that his original plan was to kill not only the woman, but also her husband. From May to June 2020, Slater met with an associate who agreed to commit the murders.  They discussed logistics, including bringing in a third person to assist.  At some point during their discussions, Slater and his associate drove by the victim’s home, during which Slater instructed his associate on how to carry out the murders when the time came. For instance, Slater pointed out which of the home’s windows to shoot through to kill the couple. Slater also instructed his associate to spray-paint the house to make it appear as if members of the Black Lives Matter movement had committed the crime. Slater agreed that as payment for the murders, he would forgive a debt that his associate owed him. Slater also agreed to pay the fees of the third person they talked about bringing in to help. In the end, the planned murders did not occur, and the intended victims suffered no physical harm.  

Slater is scheduled to be sentenced on September 16, at 10:00 a.m., by U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn, who sits in Ft. Lauderdale. Slater faces up to 10 years in prison.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, made the announcement.   Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Obenauf and Dayron Silverio are prosecuting the case.