Cops Say Woman Asked Wrong Man to Bump Off Her Son's Ex

She's "the sweetest woman in the town"—and a 5-foot-three 83-year-old woman allegedly wanted her dead. The Boston Globe travels to Plainfield, NH, to look at the case of Pauline Chase and her son, Maurice Temple, who are accused of conspiring to murder Temple's ex-wife, Jean Temple. The latter woman is, as the Globe calls her, "the beloved postmaster in this sublime little mountain town," but the report's focus isn't on the target of the alleged hit, but the alleged hit itself—and the somewhat ludicrous idea that one could hire a hitman in a tiny town where everyone knows everyone. Indeed, prosecutors allege Chase sought Mark Horne's help in bumping off her one-time daughter-in-law. But he's no hitman.

Rather, he's a man her son's age who got involved in town politics and served as a volunteer firefighter. Horne went to police and agreed to wear a wire after he says Chase told him she "wanted the b---- to go down the river" and needed some help in doing so. That conversation allegedly happened when he called Chase to ask about her son, who had been arrested after failing to pay thousands he owed to Jean Temple as part of a drawn out and contentious divorce settlement. Police say the two originally agreed to exchange a tractor as payment for the hit; that was later changed to $10,000, split over two payments. The Globe cites court documents that say Maurice Temple inspected Horne, but failed to find the wire he was wearing. (Chase allegedly had an idea about what to do with Jean Temple's body.)