JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — An Evergreen lawyer who operated a prominent local animal rights law firm pleaded guilty last month to three counts in a case in which she was suspected of conspiring to kill her estranged husband's girlfriend.
According to court records, Jennifer Emmi, 43, of The Animal Law Center, pleaded guilty on June 28 to:
- Retaliation against a witness or victim (Class 3 felony)
- Stalking (Class 4 felony)
- Solicitation of second-degree murder (Class 3 felony)
Five other charges were dismissed:
- Solicitation of first-degree murder
- A second charge of retaliation against a witness or victim
- Three more charges of stalking
Emmi was scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 16, according to records.
>>The video above is previous coverage of the Jennifer Emmi case from February 2021.
Between January 2020 and her arrest in January 2021, Emmi, also known as Jennifer Edwards, had been charged with 16 felonies and 16 misdemeanors in five felony cases, according to the case affidavit.
Emmi was accused of soliciting multiple people to murder, harass, surveil and retaliate against her estranged husband, her husband's girlfriend and other witnesses and victims in her criminal and civil cases, the affidavit says.
The affidavit describes a pattern of harassment and stalking dating back to January 2019, when Emmi's husband said he caught her cheating and stated his intention to divorce.
Incidents escalated until Emmi's husband informed police on Nov. 2 that he had been told of a recording of a phone call in which Emmi asked for help in finding someone to kill her husband's girlfriend, according to the affidavit.
The informant said Emmi had contacted him about committing the murder and offered several thousand dollars as start-up money. When the informant warned her that her husband might be killed, she said, "I'm inclined to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak," according to the affidavit.
Investigators found that Emmi had also approached another man who had been a military sniper about him killing people for her, the affidavit says.
Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) investigators also gathered evidence dating from around July 23, 2020, through January 2021 that showed Emmi had researched and targeted numerous people involved in her cases, including a JCSO investigator, a deputy district attorney in the 1st Judicial District and judges and magistrates, the affidavit says.
Emmi was arrested Nov. 19 in Laguna Beach, California, where she was renting a residence, posted bail the next day and was released. On Dec. 18, the Orange County court revoked the bond and issued a contempt of court warrant with a no-bond hold, according to the affidavit.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS